When I was invited to give a keynote address at the American Association of Geographer’s (AAG) annual meeting, I nearly cried.
Even at the height of my imagined-would-be-future-career, I never imagined myself being invited to give such a talk.
I want to continue working in climate and disaster research, and maybe secretly hoped some day I would be respected and accomplished enough to be invited as an AAG special event speaker, but that was something 15-30 years in the future, I thought.
I suggested a panel at first, somewhat afraid I couldn’t live up to the standards that other presenters would bring - like the two other keynote addresses this year by best-selling author Naomi Klein and geologist/astronaut/NOAA scientist/all-around-superhero-rockstar Kathy Sullivan.
I have been a member of the AAG since I was an undergraduate at Syracuse. I’ve won some of the AAG’s highest honors for my graduate research and science communication - including the Gilbert White Award for Best Thesis, an…
