Geography and Sustainability Faculty and Students Participate in 2023 AAG Conference in Denver

Congratulations to the geography and sustainability faculty and students of Salem State University who participated and presented their research at the annual American Association of Geographers (AAG) conference in Denver, Colorado March 22 - 28, 2023.

Each spring, the AAG hosts a conference where students and faculty can present their research, participate in workshops to learn new skills, and network with leading industry, academic, and civic representatives. 

Participation and presentation at this conference is an important part of professional development in this discipline, and Salem State’s geography and sustainability department was well represented by undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty thanks to the hard work of faculty and students and generous support from the geography and sustainability department, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Graduate Studies, and the academic affairs office.

Faculty panels, posters, and presentations:

• Marcos Luna: “One map to bind them all? Acknowledging and confronting the dangers of a unified definition for identifying and mapping Environmental Justice communities”
• Keith Ratner: “The Story of Planning and Land Use Regulation at Large American Freight Ports”
• Steven Silvern: NESTVAL Regional Councilor to the AAG Council (AAG’s governing board); elected to Chair of the AAG Publications Committee
• Stephen Young: “Art, GIScience, and Geography”

Geo-Information Science graduate student posters and presentations:

• Natasha Farina: “Solar energy growth and its impact to the Massachusetts' environment”
• Jeannette Miranda: “Forest ecology monitoring in Totonicapán, Indigenous region of Guatemala”
• Rebecca Smalley: “Looking for Climate Justice in Nature Based Solutions: A review of methods for estimating the distribution of benefits and burdens”
• Danny Szottfried: “Using GIS for Solar Suitability Analysis”

Undergraduate student posters and presentations:

• Catherine ‘Cat’ Canavan-Dysthe: “Analysis of the economic sustainability of MassDEP’s 2030 Solid Waste Master Plan”
• Christy Ditommaso: “Climate Change and its impacts on the ski industry: A Case Study comparing Mount Hood, OR and Mount Washington Valley, NH”
• Gwendolyn Robinson: “Are Climate Resiliency Plans Viable Within Current Legislative Frameworks? A case study of two Massachusetts cities”
• Aidan Santerre: “Colorado River Basin Water Management and Augmentation”
• Ella Speidel: “Boston Zoning Needs Sustainability”