NEWSLETTER OF THE

ASSOCIATIONOFPACIFICAPACIFIC COASTGEOGRAPHERS
SPRING 2024

CONTENTS
PAGE 3

PAGE 10

ABOUT THE APCG
History and photos from lastyear’s annual meeting in Ventura,CA

STUDENT AWARDS

2023 APCG Student Awardees fromthe annual meeting in Ventura, CA.

PAGE 12

PAGE 4

FUTURE APCG MEETINGSPRESIDENT’S COLUMN

A call to continue engaging with
the APCG to ensure its future.

Locations for the 2024 and 2025
APCG meetings

PAGE 6

PAGE 13APCG BUSINESS MEETINGMINUTESAPCG EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

Contact information

Business meeting minutes fromthe 2023 APCG Annual
Conference in Ventura, CA.

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ABOUT THE APCG
Founded in 1935 by a gathering of geographers including graduate students and faculty from universities,
normal schools, and junior colleges, and a few individuals from government and industry, the Associationof Pacific Coast Geographers has a long and rich history promoting geographical education, research,and knowledge.
Members gather at the annual meetings for social and intellectual interaction. They receive the annual
Yearbook, first published in 1935, that includes abstracts of papers from the meetings and a number offull-length peer-reviewed articles. Members also receive the newsletter Pacifica, first published in Fall
1994. Since 1952 the APCG has also been the Pacific Coast Regional Division of the American
Association of Geographers (AAG), serving AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, WA, BC, and YT.
Photographs from the 2023 Annual Meeting in Ventura, CA:PRESIDENT’S COLUMN:SUPPORT THE APCG!
FERNANDO J. BOSCO

The 2023 APCG meeting in Ventura, CA was successful. A total of 156 people registered for the
conference, attending either in person or virtually. In terms of registration, this was an
improvement over the 2022 APCG annual meeting at Western Washington University in
Bellingham, WA which was a smaller meeting but also successful and very well organized. The
attendance last year was still just a bit below the last pre-pandemic annual meeting in 2019 in
Flagstaff, AZ which was attended by 161 APCG members. Prior to that, it was not uncommon for
our annual meetings to exceed 250 or 300 attendees. We are hoping for another excellent
meeting this year at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, CA October 3rd to 5th and I hope to see you
there.
Our membership numbers, however, have been declining for several years. The APCG
experienced “peak” membership in the mid 2000s, with about 750 members in 2005, 2006, and2007. After that, our organization began experiencing a gradual but steady decline. By 2022, the
APCG had 329 members, and last year membership was down to 322. There are probably
several reasons that explain these trends. The first big drop in members began in 2008 whichcoincided with the annual meeting in Fairbanks, AL but also with a big economic downturn. We
have also experienced declining number of Geography majors in many of our institutions, andmore recently declining enrollments at universities and community colleges overall. The COVID19 pandemic certainly did not help our organization, our institutions, and our discipline.
I am contrasting the relative success of our annual meetings with our declining membershipnumbers as way to ask all of us to make an effort to support and re-energize the APCG.
Successful meetings require people attending but also volunteers on the ground helping whoever
is hosting the meeting. The APCG has many committees that need to be staffed on a regularbasis so that the organization can do a lot of the work that we all are proud of, including judging
papers and posters so we can give awards and prizes to students, putting together panels andspecial sessions, luncheons, the geography bowl, and so on. We have publications like theYearbook and Pacifica that need regular submissions from our members to stay relevant andafloat. The APCG has long relied on the hard work of a core group of very committed members(thank you!), but as with any other organization, people rotate through leadership roles, and more
people with new ideas, energy, and commitment are always needed. We need to re-energize the
APCG in the same way in which we are now re-building our academic units and trying to regain asense of community and belonging as geographers (or geography supporters in our several
related disciplines) after the pandemic.

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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN(continues from page 5)
What can I do to help, you ask yourself? I am not the first (and surely not last) APCG president who
will give you a list of ideas, but here are some:
Promote the APCG to colleagues and students: each year all of us meet new students andon occasion, depending on the hiring cycle, new colleagues. We do not have a recent goodtrack record of attracting new faculty to our association, but we do need them to become
involved if we want to sustain the organization long term. This is how I joined the APCG when I
moved to CA 22 years ago: Larry Ford encouraged me to get to attend my first APCG meetingand discover what the APCG was all about. New faculty will also attract more students to join
and attend meetings. Of course, student membership is variable as students pursue and finish
their degrees, and that is why we need faculty to regularly recruit students, promote ourmeetings and spread the word about the many benefits that we offer to them.
Volunteer and become involved: our committees need to be staffed, and we have vacant
positions, and we anticipate more into the future. Some committees have been dormant. Don’t
be shy and reach out to the APCG executive council, we will welcome your participation now orin the future. We are creating a list of people who have expressed interest in becoming more
involved for leadership positions in our association in the future. We would like to be able to add
you to that list.
Contribute to our publications: the Yearbook needs regular submissions to stay afloat andrelevant. It is a great outlet for work co-created with students and by students. Consider it as
you think of your next project and encourage your students to do the same. We are also seeking
ideas to re-launch this newsletter, Pacifica, to be more in line with newsletters in the digital age.
We hope to have a discussion on this topic at our next annual meeting in Arcata, but wewelcome any ideas before that as well.
Attend our annual meeting: Our meetings showcase the best of the APCG; they are great
academic, networking, and social events that connect students, faculty, professionals, and thegreater community.
Host our annual meeting: we are always looking for future hosts and locations for our
meeting. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted planning for future meetings, and it has beendifficult to find people and institutions willing to host. This is why last year’s meeting wasorganized by the APCG Executive Council and relied very heavily on the hard work of past
APCG president Steve Graves (thank you again Steve!). We are now getting back on track, andwe have hosts for our upcoming 2024 meeting and for 2025. We would like to secure morehosts going forward so planning can take place several years ahead. Even if you areconsidering hosting a few years into the future, please reach out to us.
Please reach out to me at fbosco@sdsu.edu if you have more ideas or any questions about how we
can work together to make sure the APCG remains strong for years to come. Again, I hope to see
many of you all at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, CA next October.

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APCG BUSINESS MEETING MINUTESSATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2023, TIME: 5:30 TO 6:30 PM
LOCATION: CLIPPER WEST ROOM, FOUR POINTS BYSHERATON, VENTURA, CA
Chair: Kris Bezdecny, who called meeting to order at 5:30. Approximately 25 people present.

Approval of 2022 Business Meeting minutes: Terry Young reporting – He forgot to print them so he will
distribute them by email. If any errors are found, please let him know. Distribution occurred and several
errors were reported and corrected.
Election Results: Kris Bezdecny presented the results for 2023-24:
Fernando Bosco – President
Elena Givental – Vice-President
Bob Richardson - Treasurer
Continuing:
Kris Bezdecny – Past President
Dydia Delyser – AAG Councilor
Terry Young - Secretary
REPORTSAAG Regional Councilor’s Report (written report received from D. Delyser):
Below are important items and developments at the AAG:
AAG 2024 meeting in Hawai’i:
Lave (President) and Langham (ED) have been working extensively and intensively with local
Hawai’ian leaders and community members to ensure we are welcome, and that our meeting iscommunity- and place-engaged. Questions and concerns raised by AAG members around the world
have been thoughtfully engaged and acted upon.
This form of local engagement is planned to become a model for future meetings.
Room rates at the conference hotel will be even cheaper than the ones in Denver! Please consider
booking these as the AAG must guarantee a minimum number of rooms.
A mentoring taskforce has been established by Vice President Ehrkamp. Look for sessions at regional
meetings and at the annual meeting.
AAG finances are challenging (way down) due to canceled annual meetings during the pandemic,
pandemic-relief expenses, and the fact that the Denver meeting was much smaller (by 50%!) than prepandemic meetings. Additionally, inflation and the commitment to hybrid modalities increased costs. The
Hawai’i meeting is likely to be small, so the AAG’s budget deficit is likely to grow next year. This is a very
serious situation. In response:
AAG staff have been reorganized and unfortunately several have had to be let go.
Langham and Orgodol (Finance Director) are exploring possibilities to shift the AAG’s income
structure to one that is less dependent on the annual meeting.
This could mean expanding the number of journals. Langham is investigating along with AAG’s
publisher, Taylor and Francis. Council will review a proposal at a future meeting.
This could mean considering hosting Research Coordination Networks after their NSF funding has
expired (one proposal to do so has already been submitted) so that they would become“Communities of Practice.” Langham is investigating.
This will mean exploring more grant funding. AAG staff are pursuing this, as they have in the past.
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APCG BUSSINESS MEETING MINUTES (CON’T)

This will mean that membership dues will increase (they have not in a very long time!). Langham
and staff are developing proposals to link dues with inflation, to be presented at the next Council
meeting.
Publications:
Guo Chen was appointed the new second editor of the Professional Geographer. She will serve
beginning in 2024 for a 5-year term.
Look for calls for editors of the AAG Review of Books and for the Annals in Spring.
Climate Action Taskforce
Though the Taskforce will expire in 2024 its work was considered so foundational that the Council voted
to create a new standing committee, the Climate Action Committee. Langham to prepare a charge, andCouncil to vote at an upcoming meeting. Members will be invited to serve!
JEDI: JEDI Principles and practices are being (and will continue to be) implemented formatively across the
AAG Strategic Plan.
Elevate the Discipline: the fifteen scholars convened for a week of intensive media training in Washington,
DC and this was very well received. It has also already made a difference, with several members gaining
media interviews, including some in prominent outlets (local, national, and international).
Look for upcoming opportunities, both virtual and at the annual meeting, for all members to be able toparticipate in and benefit from some of this content.
Supporting scholars in Florida: the AAG adopted a statement in support scholars engaged in criticalresearch and teaching in the state of Florida who have recently come under attack in that state.
APCG Women’s Network Report: Denielle Perry reporting – Events went well today. Numbers are going up
and increasing. Sold 40+ tickets to the Network luncheon, but more than that were present. Seven travel
awards were given this year, plus two Margaret Trussell awards to be handed out at the Awards dinner.
Denielle needs someone to take her place for one year while she is on Sabbatical. Please nominate yourself orothers. Alana will continue as co-chair. Donations for the network’s awards are sought and gratefully accepted.
Additional Committee Reports: None offered.
Treasurer’s Report: Elena Givental reporting – Elena distributed a four-page Treasurer’s Report. The firstpage summarized revenues and expenses (i.e., a balance sheet) over the past fiscal year (July 1, 2022 – June30, 2023). Elena explained the numbers and why they are not fully balanced. In brief, imbalances are typicallycaused by bills and checks from previous years arriving during the current year. Page two details the timing
and amount of funds transferred from River City Bank to Beneficial State Bank. Once the awards and bills haveall been paid for the Ventura meeting, the River City Bank account will be closed and the remaining funds
moved to Beneficial State Bank. Page three details APCG special funds, including awarded amounts andcontributions. From the budget overview on page one of the report, disbursements exceeded receipts,
decreasing the total funds in APCG’s regular accounts (not special funds) by approximately $9,650 during theyear.
Elena explained the numbers, including the recently arrived expenses from Volumes 83 & 84 of theYEARBOOK. The Yearbook numbers are always slow so past years sometimes have to be included in thepresent. Overall, we are in very good shape, she reported. Balances are generally good.
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APCG BUSSINESS MEETING MINUTES (CON’T)

Page four listed overall membership numbers since 1994. Membership is lower than it once was, and while therecent trend has been flat, there should be a notable increase in new memberships after this meeting.
Discussion followed concerning finances, future meetings, and related elements. Kris explained the high cost of
this meeting, which is, in part, why we want to identify future volunteering sites as soon as possible. It reduces
the overall cost of a meeting. The “hosting” of meetings was discussed. It was pointed out that a meeting sited ata campus is a combination of both the individuals who volunteer and institutions that agree to support. The
incoming chair of the geography department (?) at College of the Canyons (Santa Clarita, CA) expressed aninterest in hosting a future meeting. Denielle Perry offered that an established organizing committee is a big stepin the right direction and should help to open doors at more institutions.
Budget Committee Report: Monika Calef reporting – Monika said the Treasurer’s paperwork is OK. Bob
Richardson announced some small corrections.
President’s Report (originally delivered before and after the Treasurer’s Report, but combined into one here):
Kris Bezdecny reporting –1. The 2024 APCG conference will be hosted by Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, CA.
2. Kris proposed an APCG annual meeting/local arrangements committee to both identify upcoming sites andinterface with local hosting institutions. A motion was made and seconded to allow the Ex. Committee to form
such a committee. Discussion followed with focus on concerning how to develop meeting program. The
motion was approved by attendees.
3. The various APCG committees, especially the award committees, need volunteers. If you are interested or
know someone who is (or might be), please spread the word and let the APCG leadership know.
4. The Executive Council proposes to offer an annual honorarium/stipend of $2500.00 to the YEARBOOK editor
and another, lesser one to the journal’s graphics designer. A motion was made and seconded to pay them.
Discussion ensued. The motion was passed by attendees.
5. Please volunteer yourself or someone else to run for APCG Secretary. We are looking for Vice President
nominees too. Two nominations are wanted.
6. Kris brought up the possibility of APCG collaboration in 2024 with AAG, other regional divisions, andCalifornia Geographical Society. She had discussed it with Gary Langham, who said it is possible. More tofollow.
7. Kris proposed transitioning from Wild Apricot (WA), which is expensive, to the AAG membership platform orsome other alternative as long as we have control of our database. AAG has been subsidizing our WA
subscription, but Kris doesn’t think that will continue for much longer. We could move to the AAG platform, but
it would be expensive - $15,000. A motion was made, seconded, and passed to start/investigate thetransition.

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APCG BUSSINESS MEETING MINUTES (CON’T)

Yearbook Editor’s Report: Craig Revels reporting – APCG YEARBOOK, Volume 85 is being published and will
be online and mailed shortly. Watch for it. Craig R. will continue as editor for one additional year. Need to recruitfor following years. Other individuals have expressed an interest in taking on the editor position after he departs.
Rick Cooper, the copy editor, is about to retire. Craig will work with the press and new editor to identify and train
a new copy editor. Beginning with Volume 86, the YEARBOOK will change to an opt-in for paper copies. Craig
thanked the audience for letting him be the editor. Discussion concerning the mechanics of a paper vs no paperof YEARBOOK and PACIFICA. This selection of opting in will be made on APCG’s Wild Apricot page when
joining or renewing membership. A round of applause was made for Craig to thank him for the great job he hasdone as editor.
Pacifica Editor’s Report: No report.
Executive Council Meeting: The Executive Council met in the Ballroom of the Four Points by Sheraton,
Ventura, CA on Friday, October 20, 2023, from 7:00 to 8:00 AM.
Business Meeting adjourned at 6:21 PM
Respectfully submitted by Terence Young, APCG Secretary92023 VENTURA APCG ANNUAL MEETINGCOMPETITIONS, GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPSThe APCG was thrilled to offer more than $19,000 in support at the Ventura meeting.
Congratulations to the awardees and a special Thank you to our membership and thedonors who make these annual awards possible.
With your support, APCG encourages budding scholars to excel. Memberships, generalcontributions/donations, and profits from theAPCG Yearbook and annual meetings
contributed $9,000.00 of the awards total, while $10,350.00 came from donations to theSpecial Funds listed below, plus individual donations to support students at the meeting.

Student Paper & Poster Competition Winners
Doctoral Level
President’s Paper Award for Outstanding Paper
Caitlyn Linehan, UC-Santa Barbara
Tom McKnight & Joan Clemens Paper Award
Mitchell Snyder, UC-Davis
Geosystems Applied Geography Paper AwardGermȧn Silva, UC-Santa Barbara
Master’s Level
President’s Paper Award for Outstanding Paper
Kate Prell, CSU-Long Beach
Tom McKnight & Joan Clemens Paper Award
Leah Shamlian, University Center of Westfjords, Iceland
Harry & Shirley Bailey Physical Geography Paper Award
Danielle Juarez, NAU
Poster Award (Graduate Level, PhD)
Sophia Arabadjis, UC-Santa Barbara
Undergraduate Level
President’s Paper Award
Dani Savinon, Cal Poly Pomona
Geosystems Applied Geography Paper Award
Chris Guo, UC-Irvin
Poster Award (Undergraduate Level)
Caitlin Berry, Pasadena City College
Lindsey Most, CSU-San Bernardino
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Grant & Scholarship Awardees
African Descent Student Travel Grant
Chevon Holmes UC-Davis
APCG Jan Monk Early Career Faculty Research Award
Jasmine Arpagian CSU-Sacramento
Ford-Arreola Fieldwork-Archival Research Scholarship(FAFARS)
Hanson Mike Grad NAU
Aila Bandagi Kandlakunta UN-Reno
Hoerauf Grant for Studies in Cartography and GIS
Jessica Raty, NAU
Danielle Juarez NAU
Carl de Joya CSU-Sacramento
Caitlyn Linehan UC-Santa Barbara
Mengya Xu University of Southern California
Indigenous Student Travel Grant
Hanson Mike NAU
Monica Pech Cardenas NAU
Latino/a/ex Travel Scholarship (LATS)
Melinda Collins CSU-Northridge
Germán Silva UC-Santa Barbara
Danielle Juarez NAU
Monica Pech Cardenas NAU
Margaret Trussell Award
Melinda Collins CSU-Northridge
Aila Bandagi Kandlakunta UN-Reno
Women's Network Award
Mengya Xu University of Southern California
Danielle Juarez NAU
Jessica Raty NAU
Monica Pech Cardenas NAU
Caitlin Berry Pasadena City College
Chevon Holmes UC-Davis
Gwenyth Greco CSU-Northridge

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FUTURE APCG MEETINGSAPCG 2024
Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, CA
October 3-5, 2024
Contact information: Rosemary Sherriff / sherriff@humboldt.edu

APCG 2025
College of the Canyons
Santa Clarita, CA
October (dates TBA)

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APCG EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
President: Fernando J. Bosco
Department of Geography
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182
e-mail: fbosco@sdsu.edu
Vice-President: Elena Givental
Dept. of Anthropology, Geography,
and Environmental Studies
CSU East Bay
Hayward, CA 94542
e-mail: elena.givental@csueastbay.edu
Secretary: Terry Young
Dept. of Geography and Anthropology
Cal Poly, Pomona
Pomona, CA 91768
e-mail: tgyoung@cpp.ed
Treasurer: Bob Richardson2731 Catania Way
Sacramento, CA 95826(916) 363-7916
e-mail: rtalbot@csus.edu
Past President: Kris Bezdecny
Dept. of Geosciences & Environment
California State University Los Angeles
5151 State University Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90032
email: kbezdec@calstatela.edu
AAG Councillor: Dydia DeLyser
Dept. of Geography& the Environment
CSU Fullerton
800 N. State College Blvd
Fullerton, CA 92834
email: dydia@fullerton.edu

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