ASU geographers earn recognition at national conference

The annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers brings together geographers from all over the country to share ideas and research.  There are a number of competitions, and as usual, our students and faculty were among those whose accomplishments were noted at this year's meeting, held March 29 - April 2 in San Francisco, California.

Three doctoral students were recognized:

• Joanna Merson:  Finalist, AAG Cartographic Specialty Group Student Paper Competition, “Beyond Speed and Accuracy, Let's Focus on Engagement and Memorability: New Methods for Evaluating Cartographic Animations”
• Qunshan Zhao: Finalist, Landscape Specialty Group Student Presentation Competition, "Socio-ecological Factors Influences to Invasive Plant Species Distribution in Community Forest Ecosystems in Subtropical Nepal”
• Marynia Kolak: Elected incoming graduate student board member, Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group (HMGSG). Also Editor-in-Chief, HMGSG Newsletter

Meanwhile, two faculty members were honored for their ongoing research efforts:

Professor Michael Kuby received the 2016 Ullman L. Award from the AAG’s Transportation Geography Specialty Group for lifetime contributions to the field. Mike's contributions to the field have centered on alternative fuels and stations including hydrogen, electric vehicles, and natural gas. According to his nominating letter, his work on optimal network and facility location models, including the hub network design problem, the flow-refueling location problem for alternative fuel vehicles, and programming models for facility dispersion is especially notable. He has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Transport Geography since 1998 and has held various leadership roles with the Transportation Geography Specialty group. 

“Mike has delivered consistent and important contributions to the way alternative fuels can be used in a more sustainable energy/transportation system,” said Patricia Gober, interim director of the School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning.

Professor Soe Myint received the 2016 AAG Remote Sensing Specialty Group’s Outstanding Achievement Award. Soe’s work in remote sensing focuses on geospatial statistics, land use land cover change and prediction, and assessment and monitoring of drought, land degradation, and desertification.  In addition, his work deals with landscape fragmentation, urban environmental modeling, forest characterization, disaster assessment, recovery, and monitoring, agriculture water use, evapotranspiration, and surface energy analysis, spatial modeling, and classification algorithm development.

“This is the AAG’s most prestigious award for established remote sensing scholars,” said Le Wang, chair of the Remote Sensing Specialty Group.