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From AAG.org

Geography Awareness Week 2023

August 2, 2023

Bowie State geography students tour one of several national parks. Credit: Sumanth Reddy

What we mean by ‘place’ is a crossroads, a particular point of intersections of forces coming from many directions and distances.”

—Rebecca Solnit, 2023 AAG Honorary Geographer

 

NOVEMBER 13-17

The Power of Place

To geographers, place is defined as a space that has been made meaningful by people and connections. Places can be sites of belonging or exclusion; safety or danger; commerce and activity or repose and reflection. Certainly, places imply witness: can a place even be a place if no one at all is there or knows it?

The work of seeing, understanding, and knowing places is the work of geographers. Our work, by necessity, is wide-ranging but always situated in relation to place. As this year’s AAG Honorary Geographer Rebecca Solnit put it in her talk at the AAG annual meeting, “If a field of expertise can be imagined as an actual field, then…I love geography because [it] trespasses across a lot of hedges and fences and borders in its vast encompassing of so many crucial things.”   Watch the recording

Now more than ever, as we contemplate the rapid change wrought on the Earth by human-caused activities, and as human settlements cover roughly half of Earth’s land surface, and as we confront the pressing need to embed habitat, plant, and animal life in our notions of place, we must examine our connections and our shared responsibility to care for places together. Understanding geography is a crucial part of fulfilling our responsibility to places.

Take part in National Geography Awareness Week: The Power of Place, November 13-17, 2023. Help AAG tell the world about how vital the field of geography is to understanding where we are right now, and where we can go. Use our map to find out about GeoWeek events and happenings where you are, and all over the world.

 

Get Involved!

This year, help AAG celebrate the impact that geographers have on the world. We invite you to take part in Geography Awareness Week. Here are a few ways to get involved right now: 

• Become a GeoAdvocate. Get GeoWeek information and see your name listed below. Sign up now
• Be a Promotional Partner. Promotional Partners are organizations interested in helping spread the word about GeoWeek. We provide you with information and public acknowledgment of your partnership. Sign up now 
• Help Us Publicize Your Events. Add your work to our map. From mapathons to mentoring events, from webinars to community meet-ups, we want to know how geography is showing up where you are. Share your work with us

Connect with our Core Partners

AAG is pleased to collaborate with the following organizations and institutions to create information resources for Geography Awareness Week. 

 

 

 

 It’s a great day for a field trip! If you are one of the many geospatial professionals who knew Dr. Bob, a full obituary with information about Bob’s memorial services on Friday and Saturday is posted at https://hastingsfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/4222/Robert-Behling/obituary.html#tribute-start.

Check out the Citizen Science article with several WVAGP members and the WVDNR firefly project. 

https://www.timeswv.com/news/local_news/into-birds-or-insects-hobby-could-also-help-scientists/article_ecd32496-24e3-11ee-81fc-3f70c5c5fbf0.html?fbclid=IwAR3fRCrzcOlnXNW9GCfNWdEKFMl8hlpEd8s_unyfvSr3W42FMAC9R_5t1XM

A Letter from the President

2023-2024 WVAGP Board of Directors (L-R): Austin Dotson, Meryl Friedrich, Taryn Moser, Aaron Ferrari, Marvin Davis, Jennings Starcher, Stacey McDaniel, Amanda Adams, Eric Bess, and Hussein Elkhansa. Not Pictured: Jessica Gormont, Dusty Hays.

Respond to Survey

Hello,  I'd like to start off with saying it is an honor to be elected as the President for WVAGP for the 2023-2024 term. I am forever grateful for the membership and the Board of Directors for their trust in me to lead WVAGP through a year that, I believe, we will see some great changes and growth in our organization. I am sending this message to provide you some goals and plans for the coming year, and asking for you to provide input to the Board of Directors to help us in steering WVAGP forward. Goals The goals I'm setting for the coming year are: A Geospatial Professional Census. It has been a while since we had a true count on the number of people practicing, and organizations utilizing, geospatial technology. Collaborating on this effort with the Office of the State GIS Coordinator, once the position is filled, would be of benefit to all. Make WVGeoCon 2024 a Valuable Event for All. WVAGP has implemented changes to our format by moving to an annual conference and branding as WVGeoCon for 2024. We aim to have events, workshops, and presentations that will be valuable to all of our members and attendees. Increase our Engagement with Allied Organizations. We have many organizations in our state that have users who use geospatial technology or wish to learn how to use it. We want to ensure we are fostering growth in the profession in the Mountain State! Continue Building "WVAGP 2.0." We have been focused on taking the next step as an organization in updating our bylaws, implementing new strategies, and moving to our new website. The work is far from finished and this year we need to continue moving forward, but it can only be done with all members participating. Help by joining a committee or by providing feedback! Help Us Help You! WVAGP always relies on its members to inform the Board of Directors on ideas, needs, or concerns they have. We are including a survey in this email to ask for your brief input on our organization so we can work to make this organization even better. Your participation is key! The survey will close on Monday, July 31st. I look forward to working with you all in this coming year. Let's make it spatial! Marvin A. Davis WVAGP President, 2023-2024

Respond to Survey

Join WVAGP

(From URISA)

We need your help and expertise! 

URISA is a founding member of the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO), which produces an assessment of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) every few years.  For the first time, COGO is reaching out to geospatial professionals and practitioners, people who use, develop, or manage geospatial data, to get a better understanding of the NSDI's current status.

Please review and complete the NSDI Assessment survey.  You will see questions about each of the 8 NSDI Framework data sets and some Universal questions about the NSDI. At a minimum, please answer the Universal questions. If you have knowledge about any of the Framework data sets, please answer those questions, as well.

Survey Areas

• Addresses
• Transportation
• Cadastral
• Elevation
• Orthoimagery
• Hydrography
• Geodetic Control
• Government Units

The survey will be open until August 1, 2023.  Thank you in advance for your participation!

Check out our WVAGP Spring 2023 Newsletter

$700 MILLION FOR COMMUNITY EV CHARGING - FEDERAL GRANT PROGRAM

Cities, counties, other local governments and tribes can secure grants for public charging in urban and rural communities.

https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/federal-community-ev-electric-vehicle-charging-grants-cfi-program/644931/

https://www.airmeet.com/e/350e4e00-91ed-11ed-96c9-5339550a3fe1

Join the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for a virtual workshop to learn more about ARC’s POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Initiative. Sessions will provide applicants the opportunity to better understand the POWER Initiative and what makes a well-rounded application, hear an overview of the key points in the current Request for Proposals (RFP), ask questions during an interactive Q&A session, and engage with and learn from other organizations playing a role in economic development in coal-impacted counties throughout the Region.

Might be applicable to some WVAGP org members - 

The Hub, Coalfield Development, and partners are working to support the growth of a West Virginia climate technology cluster by working directly with communities and local businesses to provide multi-layered community-based programs, small business trainings, and technical assistance to help create sustainability practices, green business strategies, and economic resilience readiness plans.

Eligible applicants include any county, city municipality, neighborhood, community or nonprofit organization located in the 21 County ACT Now region of Southern WV, defined by the following counties:

Boone, Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Putnam, Raleigh, Summers, Wayne, Webster, Wyoming

If you’re interested in learning more about Accelerate WV, we invite you to attend our Info Session on February 28th from 12:00 - 1:00 PM!

Register here: bit.ly/3KdyvAX