AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF GEOGRAPHERS
WATER RESOURCE SPECIALTY GROUP
Welcome
The Water Resources Specialty Group is focused the advancement of water research and eduation. We encourage water resources research, promote water resources education; promote the exchange of water resources ideas and information; promote the interests of water resources within the discipline of geography; and develop contacts and coordination with other water resources organizations and with related specialty groups within the American Association of Geographers. The WRSG is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes.
Latest News
Our members frequently post upcoming events and opportunities on our AAG Specialty Group Community Site below button. Feel free to contribute water resources-related news and materials there.
2022 AAG Annual Meeting
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WRSG's business meeeting @ 2022 AAG Annual Meeting was successfully held on February 25 (virtual). New board members were elected, and the WRSG award ceremony was done.
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Congratulation on the awards!
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Distinguished Career Award:
Dr. Chansheng He, Professor and Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Department of Geography, Environment and Tourism, Western Michigan University
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Olen Paul Matthews and Kathleen A. Dwyer Fund for Water Resources Proposal Award:
Dr. Thomas LaVanchy, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Oklahoma State University. Proposal title: "Finding Community Voice for Water Justice after Day Zero"​
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Student Presentation Awards:​
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Sumiya Bilegsaikhan (National University of Singapore): "When there is too much, yet too little of the Nam Ou left: an everyday geography of water in northern Laos"
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Krista Harrington (Portland State University): "Understanding Unlikely Alliances on Snake River Dam Removal through a Political Ecology Lens"​
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Student Paper Award:​
​​Wenjing Zhang (University of Melbourne): "Centre, locality and the transition to sustainable urbanisation in China: water for the future city, Xiong'an"​
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Student Proposal Award:
Arun Pallathakda (Portland State University): "Detection, classification, and mapping of stormwater infrastructure in Portland using AI and Google Street View"
Statement from the Water Resources Specialty Group Board
Dear Colleagues,
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The Water Resources Specialty Group (WRSG) Board affirms our solidarity with the Black Geographies Specialty Group and with all our colleagues who face racism and discrimination. In this moment of so much anger, pain, and loss, we emphatically condemn all forms of oppression and discrimination that have resulted in brutality, injury, and death. We join the call with several other specialty groups for AAG leadership to combat all types of racism and violence to the fullest extent possible, thereby making our discipline more inclusive to Black geographers.
The poison of hatred and discrimination has polluted lives in innumerable ways. One small step that we can collectively take towards atonement is by learning from the countless outcomes of discrimination and prejudice manifest, including through numerous examples of environmental injustice. This includes Vanport, Oregon, a city built on a floodplain due to racially discriminatory housing policies, where a catastrophic flood destroyed a Black community in 1948. This includes Flint, Michigan, where tens of thousands of its residents were poisoned with lead-tainted water for 18 months. This includes several historically Black North Carolina communities that were gerrymandered out of municipal boundaries and forced to rely upon unprotected private wells for their water supplies, thereby increasing their risk of being exposed to pollutants. Countless other examples exist across the United States and around the world where people have been deprived of their rights to life through access to clean water and dignity through adequate sanitation.
As the WRSG and other specialty groups address the problem of racial discrimination now and in the weeks to come, we are also welcome to input from members and non-members about how we can fight racism and create a more inclusive community. It is not enough for us to make this statement; we must commit ourselves to working towards justice both within the AAG and the world at large. It is as clear as ever that, collectively and individually, must all do better.
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Black Lives Matter.
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In Solidarity,
The Water Resources Specialty Group Board
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Our newest newsletter, Fall 2021, is available. Please find it here.