2024 AAG-GISSG Student Honors Paper Competition Result

I hope you are having a fantastic time at the AAG 2024 Annual Conference. 


On behalf of the AAG Geographic Information Science and Systems (GISS) Specialty Group, I am very pleased to announce the winners of this year’s student honors paper competition: 


Graduate Group


1st place ($700):


Nemin Wu, University of Georgia, Spatial-temporal Explicit Deep Gravity Model (STExDGM) for Origin-Destination Flow Generation


2nd place ($450):


Hao Tian, Texas A&M University, Unveiling Human Mobility Dynamics during Heat Waves Using Mobile Phone Location Data in the Houston Metropolitan Area


3rd place ($300):


Jacob Kruse, University of Wisconsin–Madison, The Spatially-Weighted Temporal Rich Club: Identifying Rich Clubs in Spatiotemporal Interaction Networks


Honorable mentions ($200 each):


Yifei Liu, University of California, Santa Barbara, An Advanced Time-geographic Approach for Analyzing Spatio-temporal Interactions between Turkey Vultures


Hanlin Zhou, University of Toronto, Associating Dynamic Built Environmental Exposures and Active Transport


Congratulations to all student winners!  Many thanks to the GISS BOD review committee and all participants for joining us yesterday! 


We are looking forward to next year’s student paper competition!  


AAG-GISS BOD

GISS Activities on Day 5 of AAG 2024

Welcome to the last day of AAG 2024! The GISS Specialty Group will sponsor the following sessions on Day 5! Enjoy the conference!

GeoAI Deep Learning Symposium: GeoAI for Feature Detection and Recognition – Part III

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: GeoAI for Spatial Analytics and Modeling

Geospatial AI and Informatics for Urban & Ecosystems Analytics 1

Digital geographies: Migration. Method. Policy.

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: GeoHealth Data Science

Geospatial AI and Informatics for Urban & Ecosystems Analytics 2

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Advances in multitemporal remote sensing for terrestrial ecosystems 1

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Advances in multitemporal remote sensing for terrestrial ecosystems 2

GISS Activities on Day 4 of AAG 2024

Welcome to Day 4 of AAG 2024! The GISS Specialty Group will sponsor the following sessions on Day 4! Enjoy the conference!

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: A repeatable, reproducible, and expandable (RRE) framework integrating GeoAI and spatiotemporal simulation – Series II

Diverse Perspectives in Geography: Examining Space Through the Lenses of Disability

Geography and Data Science for Public Good II: Data-Driven Evidence and Solutions to Social and Spatial Inequalities.

Advancing health research: Harnessing geospatial big data and geoanalytical techniques

Environmental Data Deserts 1: Understanding the Causes and Consequences of the Unequal Coverage of Environmental Monitoring Networks

Geography and Data Science for Public Good III: Data-Driven Evidence and Solutions to Social and Spatial Inequalities.

Error and Change Analysis in GIS and Remote Sensing

Geospatial Approaches to Mobility and Health Issues: Under-examined Cities (Symposium on Geospatial Approaches to Pressing Grand Challenges: Global Pandemics, Climate Change, and Food Security)

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: A repeatable, reproducible, and expandable (RRE) framework integrating GeoAI and spatiotemporal simulation – Series I

Environmental perception and spatial behavior

Geography and Data Science for Public Good: Data-Driven Evidence and Solutions to Social and Spatial Inequalities.

GISS Activities on Day 3 of AAG 2024

Welcome to Day 3 of AAG 2024! The GISS Specialty Group will sponsor the following sessions on Day 3! Enjoy the conference!

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Navigating Cities – Exploring Human Mobility through Innovative Geospatial Science Approaches

Exploring Geospatial Methods and Human Dynamics to Address Challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3: Methods to Support the SDGs

Place & the Social-Spatial Determinants of Health Symposium 2

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Geospatial Platform for Sustainability Research and Education

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: GeoAI for Sustainable and Computational Agriculture I

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: GeoAI for Sustainable and Computational Agriculture II

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: The Geospatial Component in the Decarbonization of Net-zero Emissions Energy Systems

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium – Responsible GeoAI I: Privacy and Fairness

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Multiscale Mapping That Works: Harnessing Intelligent Methods for Cartographic Display and Analysis

Exploring Geospatial Methods and Human Dynamics to Address Challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2: Sustainable Development

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium – Responsible GeoAI II: Justice and Accuracy

GISS-SG Student Honors Paper Competition

Place & the Social-Spatial Determinants of Health Symposium 1

GISS Activities on Day 2 of AAG 2024

The GISS Speciality Group is thrilled to sponsor the following exciting sessions on Day 2 of AAG 2024! Please join these sessions and enjoy the conference!

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Data-intensive Geospatial Understanding for Sustainability Solutions

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: GeoAI for Science and the Science of GeoAI

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Embedding Ethics in Geospatial Data Science and AI

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Ethics in Geospatial AI and Data Science

Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group Business Meeting

GIS&S Reception

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Convergence Curriculum for Geospatial Data Science

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: AI for Earth Observation

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: GeoAI for Feature Detection and Recognition — Part I

Characterizing Urban Human-Environment Interactions across Space and Time using Geospatial Big Data

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium – GeoAI for Feature Detection and Recognition — Part II

GIScience and Hazards

GISS Activities on Day 1 of AAG 2024

Welcome to Day 1 of AAG 2024! The GISS Specialty Group will sponsor the following sessions on Day 1! Enjoy the conference!

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities of Spatial Accessibility 2

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: Spatially Explicit Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence III

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: GeoAI and Social Sensing for Human-Pandemic Dynamics Ⅰ

Geospatial Monitoring of Natural and Managed Ecosystems

Mapping and Analyzing Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Brazil

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: CyberGIS and Spatial Decision Support System

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: GeoAI and Social Sensing for Human-Pandemic Dynamics Ⅱ

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: GeoAI Foundation Models

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Harnessing Mobility Data for Spatial Knowledge Discovery

Actionable Ethics in Cartography

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: Spatially Explicit Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence I

Lifecourse and Exposome-Based Research in Geospatial Health Applications I

AAG 2024 Symposium on Geospatial Data Science for Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities of Spatial Accessibility 1

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: Spatially Explicit Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence II

Lifecourse and Exposome-Based Research in Geospatial Health Applications II

Panel: Spatial Data Science in an Age of Scientific Disruption – A Curriculum

GIS&S Sponsorship for Organizing Sessions at AAG 2024

Dear GIS&S community,

As AAG 2024 is approaching and we are enthusiastically assembling sessions for AAG 2024, the GISS BOD is happy to announce that we are delighted to sponsor any sessions organized by GISS members to advance GISS knowledge, technology, and applications.

If you need any help organizing and promoting your sessions, feel free to contact us anytime 

(Communication Director: Yuhao Kang, yuhaokang@sc.edu). 

We look forward to seeing you at Honolulu!

Best regards,

AAG-GIS&S BOD

2023 AAG-GISSG Student Honors Paper Competition Result

Dear GISS community, 

I hope you are having a fantastic time at the AAG 2024 Annual Conference. 

On behalf of the AAG Geographic Information Science and Systems (GISS) Specialty Group, I am very pleased to announce the winners of this year’s student honors paper competition: 

Graduate Group

1st place ($700):

Han Wang, Peking University, GWRBoost: A geographically weighted gradient boosting method for explainable quantifications of spatially varying relationships

2nd place ($450):

Meiliu Wu, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Revealing Racial-Ethnic Segregation with Individual Experienced Segregation Indices Based on Social Media Data: A Case Study in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim

Binbin Lin, Texas A&M University, Sensing the Pulse of the Pandemic: Demographic Disparities of Public Sentiment toward COVID-19 through Social Media

Honorable mentions ($200 each):

Rongxiang Su, University of California, Santa Barbara, ORTEGA: An open-source Python package for context-aware interaction analysis based on movement data

Wenxin Yang, Arizona State University, Uncertainties in the geographic representation of landscape connectivity metrics for area-based conservation

Xiangyu Ren, San Jose State University, Street crime prediction using a spatial-temporal cokriging method

Jinwen Xu, University of South Florida, Human Dynamics in Natural Hazards – Mining Business Visitation Data during 2021 Winter Storm Uri in Texas

Yu Lan, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, A Web-based Geographic Framework to Detect and Visualize Space-time Clusters of COVID-19

Devin Yongzhao Wu, University of Toronto-Mississauga, Micro-built environment and crime: An approach using street view images and machine learning methods

Undergraduate Group

1st place ($700):

Haoxuan Ge, University of Toronto-Mississauga, Spatial Non-Stationarity Effects of Unhealthy Food Environments and Green Spaces for Type-2 Diabetes in Toronto

2nd place ($450):

Stone Shi, University of California, Santa Barbara, Visualize Sustainable Land Use in the Tropical Maya Forest: Revitalizing the Old Tikal Map for New Geospatial Analyses

Congratulations to all student winners!  Many thanks to the GISS BOD review committee and all participants for joining us today! 

We are looking forward to next year’s student paper competition!  

AAG-GISS BOD

AAG 2024 GISS-SG Student Honors Paper Competition (In-Person): Abstract Deadline – Nov 10, 2023

AAG Meeting: Honolulu Hawaiʻi– April 16 – April 20, 2024

The Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group (GISS-SG) of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) is pleased to announce the 2024 Honors Competition for Student Papers on Geographic Information Science and Systems topics to be presented at the annual meeting. The purpose of this competition is to promote scholarship and written and oral presentation by students in the field of GIS. Papers are invited from current graduate and undergraduate students on any topic in geographical information systems and geographic information science.

Any paper that advances any aspect of GIS is welcome. We encourage papers on theoretical, conceptual, and methodological developments in GIS as well as on particular innovative GIS applications. Papers must be based upon original work, completed as an undergraduate or graduate student, relevant to the field of GIS and current GIS research. Papers must be mainly written by the applicant, but having co-authors is allowed. Students who are selected as finalists will be placed in a special session at the annual meeting. A single submission can only be submitted to one AAG special group honor paper competition. The only exception is a student who is also selected as a Nystrom Dissertation Award finalist, in which case, he or she may present in the Nystrom paper session instead.

Enhancing diversity, promoting inclusion, and broadening participation in the discipline of geography are goals that are central to the AAG and its mission. We strongly encourage female students and students in underrepresented groups in geography to participate in this competition.

IMPORTANT DATES

November 10, 2023 – extended abstract (~1000 words) and AAG conference registration PIN due to Dr. Gengchen Mai at gengchen.mai25@uga.edu

November 28, 2023 – finalists notification

February 15, 2024 – for graduate student finalists, full paper due to Dr. Gengchen Mai at gengchen.mai25@uga.edu 

Note:  prior to extended abstract submission you must submit your conference abstract on the AAG website at which point you will obtain your abstract ID/PIN. 

AWARDS

Up to ten finalists (two sessions) will be selected including a maximum of 5 undergraduate and 5-10 graduate students on the basis of the quality of extended abstracts and provided with an award of $200 each to present at the conference. The extended abstract no longer than 5 pages demonstrating GIS novel methods, toolkits, or applications of GIS to solve a real-world problem is used by the GISS-SG Awards Committee to choose the competition finalists. Graduate student finalists must submit a paper of a substantive nature that constitutes an expanded discussion of the material to be presented orally at the annual meeting. Full paper submission is not required for undergraduate finalists. Subsequent to the oral presentations by the finalists, there will be special awards for the 1st and 2nd-place presenters. The prizes of $500 for 1st place and $250 for 2nd place in both the graduates group and the undergraduates group will be determined immediately following the special presentation session.

The awards committee reserves the right to not offer such prizes if the papers are not of sufficiently high quality. The 1st and 2nd-place awards are decided on the basis of the written paper or extended abstract and the oral presentation. They will also receive tickets to attend the AAG Awards Luncheon, and results of the competition will be published in the AAG Newsletter and the GISS-SG newsletter, as well as on the specialty group’s web page.

ELIGIBILITY

The competition is open to students at all academic levels. Any paper first-authored and presented by a student is eligible for the competition, provided the paper has not already been published or presented somewhere. There is no limitation on the number of co-authors, however, the applicant student is required to be the first author. It is worth noting that your extended abstract/paper can only be submitted to one AAG special group honor paper competition.

Applicants must be a current member of the AAG GISS Specialty Group (GISS-SG). For instructions on how to become a member of the Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group, simply contact the AAG. There are no student dues for the GISS-SG.

JUDGING

Extended abstracts and written papers will be judged by the GISS-SG Awards Committee (Chair, Vice Chair, Academic Director, Communications Director, Commercial Director, Governmental Director, and Student Director) on several criteria: potential contribution to the field of GIS, originality, appropriate use of methodology, scholarship, organization, and written composition. The oral presentation of papers will be judged on professional delivery, organization, clarity, and appropriate use of graphics. Judging will take into account the academic level of the applicants.

FINALISTS

Up to ten competition finalists will be notified by November 28, 2023. Each graduate student finalist will be asked to submit a written paper of about 4,000-6,000 words, expanding on the material in the extended abstract.

This paper will be due no later than February 15, 2024. Details about the final written paper are provided lower on this page.

GUIDELINES FOR APPLICATIONS

To be considered for participation in the GIS paper competition, an extended abstract must be submitted (about 1000 words, no more than 5 pages including figures; references don’t count to the page limit) (12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and single-spaced lines). Applicants must clearly indicate that they wish to be considered for the GISS-SG Student Paper Competition. All submissions not accepted for the competition by the awards committee will be incorporated into the AAG meeting program in other sessions.

Students can use the WORD Template or Latex Template for extended abstract submissions.

Applicants must also submit an AAG participant number which is issued when successfully registering for the AAG meeting (in other words, you must register for the AAG in-person meeting and submit a short abstract using the AAG’s registration website, before submitting your longer abstract to the GISS-SG competition). The extended abstract and participant code (PIN) are due to the GISS-SG Academic Director. Please send abstracts with [GISS-Name-Grad/Undergrad] headline via email as an attachment (Microsoft Word or PDF) to Dr. Gengchen Mai (gengchen.mai25@uga.edu).

GUIDELINES FOR FULL PAPERS

Papers, including the related bibliography and associated tables and figures, should be submitted in the format used by the International Journal of Geographical Information Science (see https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=tgis20&page=instructions). A cover page listing the author’s (or authors’) name(s), student status, academic affiliation, faculty advisor for the paper, mailing address, phone numbers, and email address should also be included. The second page should include only the title of the paper and the 250-word abstract. The content of the paper should begin on the third page.

The final written paper should be submitted electronically via email to Dr. Gengchen Mai (gengchen.mai25@uga.edu) as an attachment (12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, double spaced). The content of the paper is limited to about 20 pages in length (text, references, figures and tables, about 4000-6000 words total).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

See http://aag-giss.org/competitions-awards/student-honors-paper-competition/

Send all submissions and inquiries to:

Dr. Gengchen Mai

Academic Director, Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group

Department of Geography, University of Georgia

Email: gengchen.mai25@uga.edu 

AAG GISS Specialty Group Webinar: “The Past, Present, and Future of GIScience”

Dear Colleagues,

We welcome you to the AAG GISS Specialty Group Webinar on Big Data and CyberGIS/AI – part of the Past, Present, and Future of GIScience series. This webinar will provide a platform for the panelists to discuss the current state of GIScience from the perspective of advancements in computing and AI, and the challenges we need to address to bridge the gaps from conceptual and application perspectives.

Webinar Date/Time: September 19th, 2023, 10:30 am – 12:00pm EDT

Panelists: Dr. Renee Sieber (McGill University), Dr. Manil Maskey (NASA/MSFC) and Dr. Eric Shook (University of Minnesota)

Organizers: Dr. Bandana Kar (U.S. Dept. of Energy), Dr. Zachary Christman (Rowan University) and Dr. Lei Zou (Texas A & M University).