2026 AAG West Lakes Division Meeting
October 16-17, 2026
Natural History Building
The University of Illinois
Directions and Parking
Conference sessions will be held in the Natural History Building (NHB), 1301 West Green Street, Urbana, IL (directions) on the University of Illinois campus.
The University of Illinois is a walkable, secure campus and parking requires forethought.
- Free parking is available after 5pm on Friday and all day on weekends in lots B1, B7, D1, D2, and D6 (see the web map below).
- Metered street parking spaces around campus are enforced Monday-Saturday from 7am-6pm and can be paid with quarters or the MobileMeter, ParkMobile, or PayByPhone apps.
- Always read lot and street signs before parking. Some lots and street spaces are reserved 24/7. There is no 2:00 am - 6:00 am parking on campus without a hotel permit or overnight permit.
- Parking for Illini Union hotel guests is available in lot D11 adjacent to the Union. One permit hang tag per reservation is provided at check-in.
Amtrak runs three trains north and three trains south daily from Carbondale to Chicago through Champaign (CHM) Illinois Terminal. Illinois Terminal is a one-mile walk to campus that is also accessible via MTD bus. Search for routes to Illini Union.
Airline service is available to University of Illinois - Willard Airport via American Airlines and United Airlines.
The Natural History Building (NHB)
Conference sessions and the keynote will be held in the Natural History Building.
The Saturday evening dinner will be held next door in the Illini Union.
Wi-Fi access is available through EduRoam, which you should register for at your home institution (if available) prior to leaving for the conference.
U of I has a guest WiFi network (Illinois_Guest). Registration is required and connectivity can be unreliable.
Program
All events will be held in the Natural History Building (NHB) except the Saturday awards dinner next door (west) in the Illini Union.
Click session links to show participants. For detailed author and abstract information, visit the AAG Session Gallery.
Friday, 16 October 2026
- 4:00 pm: Check-in opens (2nd floor north foyer)
- 4:00 pm: Reception (2nd floor north foyer)
- 5:00 pm: Opening keynote (NHB 2079)
- Welcoming remarks by U of I Associate Dean and Robert W. Schaefer Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Shaowen Wang.
-
All Geographers Should be Feminist Geographers:
Why We Should Care about Care - A Research Journey
Lindsay Naylor, University of Delaware (NHB 2079)
Saturday, 17 October 2026
- 8:00 am: Check-in opens (2nd floor north foyer) - beverage and baked goods served
- 8:30 am - 9:50 am: Sessions I
- NHB 2020: Elite and Everyday Urban Actors
- Gavin Davies, DePaul University: The evolution of Sunnyside Mall: A case study for the rights to a space
- Sahil Sasidharan, University of Wisconsin-Madison: Cooperative assetization at India’s agrarian-urban frontier: Pooling land and speculative urban futures at Delhi’s edge
- Andrea Pimentel Rivera, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: Porto Rico takes to motoring: entrepreneurial automobility under early American colonial rule
- Markia Silverman-Rodriguez, University of Wisconsin-Madison: Latinx placemaking in "Milwaukee’s armpit": Historical geographies of embodied environmental consciousness in the Menomonee River Valley, 1920s-1970s
- (Moderator) Dennis Grammenos, Northeastern Illinois University: Growth for All in Chicago: The ideological weaponization of scarcity in late neoliberal urbanism
- NHB 2049: Anti-Social Social Geographies
- NHB 2078: Water, Water Everywhere
- Md Shahriar Ahmed, University of Northern Iowa: Assessing Spatiotemporal Trends of Shoreline Change in Alaska: Measuring the Impacts of Sea Level Rise in the Arctic.
- Xiaoran Han, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Water Volume Dynamics in Central Asian Reservoirs Observed by the SWOT LakeSP Product
- Xinchen He, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Observing Lake-River Continuums from Space: Revealing the Hidden Hydraulic Influence of Lakes and Reservoirs
- Kei Yamato, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Understanding the Hydrodynamic Coupling of the Amazon River on Ria Lakes Using SWOT
- (Moderator) Woonsup Choi, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Co-occurrence of Heatwave and Streamflow Drought Events in Catchments with an Intermittent Streamflow Regime in the Conterminous US
- NHB 2084: Studying and Planning the City
- Douglas Williams, DePaul University: Transportation & Land Use, Analyzing Development Patterns in the Washington DC and Tokyo Regions
- Rishi Chaudhari, DePaul University: How Metra is a Convenient Traveling Source in a Big City
- Angela Li, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: A Neighborhood-Scale ESG Assessment of Urban Environments Using Street View Imagery: A Case Study of Chicago Chinatown and Pilsen
- (Moderator) Dane Atkins, City of Cedar Rapids: Enterprise GIS and the City
- 10:00 am - 10:20 am: Break
- 10:20 am - 11:40 am: Sessions II
- NHB 2020: Understanding the City Differently
- Aren Porneluzi, DePaul University: Rent Strikes in Chicago: An Underutilized Tool for Housing Justice
- Timothy Elliot, DePaul University: Community Land Trusts in Chicago: An Exploration of Affordability In a Segregated City
- Alec Foster, Illinois State University: Paddling, Place, and Participation: Exploring Environmental Justice at the Bubbly Creek Floating Gardens in Chicago
- Paul Odér, Eastern Illinois University: Mapping Environmental Racism and Urban Inequality in New York City
- (Moderator) Melissa Heil, Illinois State University: The Water-Housing Nexus in Central Illinois: Possible Directions for Understanding Urban Growth, Decline, Privatization, and Household Water Insecurity
- NHB 2049: Mapping and Analyzing Vulnerability and Inequality
- Harriet Morkor Quarshie, University of Northern Iowa: GIS-Based Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Armed Conflict, Population Exposure, and Healthcare Accessibility in Burkina Faso, 2015–2025
- Isaac Eshun, University of Northern Iowa: Elderly Heat Vulnerability in Iowa: Spatial Patterns, Warming Trends, and Planning Implications
- Mohammad Gholami, Northern Illinois University: Mapping the Dynamics of Climate Vulnerability across U.S. Counties, 2000–2020: A Hybrid Factor Analysis – Analytic Network Process (F'ANP) Approach
- Dennis Nkansah, University of Northern Iowa: Spatial Patterns of Drinking Water Contaminants in Iowa: Integrating County-Level GIS Analysis with a Statewide KAP Study
- (Moderator) Kenan Li and Ying Fu, Saint Louis University: Understanding the Geography of Food Environments and Type 2 Diabetes Across the SSM Health Network
- NHB 2078: Methods in Biogeography
- Lola Rigano, Northern Michigan University: Addressing Gaps Within Revegetation Efforts at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
- Joseph Caya, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: A Macrogenetics Analysis of Ground Beetles (Carabidae) across NEON
- Zhijie Zhou, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: WCC-Sight: An Uncertainty-Aware Ground-Truthing System for Winter Cover Crop Functional Types Using Street View and Satellite Observations
- Wendy Dorman and Matthew Finzel, Illinois Natural History Survey: Developing a high resolution dataset to inform grassland bird management
- (Moderator) Yaqian He, Indiana University: Deep learning-based detection of rust disease in switchgrass using UAV-derived multispectral imagery
- NHB 2084: Who is the City For?
- Samuel Lozano, DePaul University: Gentrification in Marginalized Communities: How the Obama Center Redefines Black Spaces
- Luis Hernandez, DePaul University: The 1901 Project: Regenerative Neighborhood Project or Gentrification?
- Sayak Roy, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Half-Shutters and Night Shifts: Everynight Geographies of Sovereignty in HITEC City, Hyderabad
- (Moderator) Hyejin Yoon, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Beyond Growth: From Event City to Everyday City in Gangneung, South Korea
- 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Lunch (on your own)
- 1:00 pm - 2:50 pm: Poster session: 3rd floor hallways and The Core
- 1. Jordan McAlister, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: New Deal Post Office Murals and Sculptures in Illinois: Examining the Themes of Geography Depicted in Depression-Era Public Artwork
- 2. Maxim Shoshany, Illinois Tech: Google’s AlphaEarth Embeddings for Exploring Desert Boundaries with a South-eastern Mediterranean Case Study
- 3. Melvin Johnson, Universities of Wisconsin-Manitowoc: Changes in college age appropriate male populations in the United States: 2010 – 2020
- 4. Abigiya Haile, Chicago State University: Built-Environment Inequities and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Risk in Chicago Neighborhoods
- 5. Anne Egbuche, Northern Illinois University: An Analysis of Cooling Center Access and Socioeconomic Vulnerability in Chicago.
- 6. Antipas Kasay, University of Northern Iowa: Mapping Demographic and Socioeconomic Patterns Across Iowa Counties, 2018–2023
- 7. Christian Badibanga, University of Northern Iowa: Mapping Demographic and Socioeconomic Patterns Across Iowa Counties, 2018–2023
- 8. Himansi Bhatt, Northern Illinois University: SNAP Participation in Chicago: Spatial Patterns and Socioeconomic Indicators
- 9. Jesse Hansen, University of Northern Iowa: Salmon Fisheries Governance on the Alaska Peninsula: Examining Community Perspectives on Equity and Stakeholder Relations
- 10. Samanta Alam, Chicago State University: Multidecadal Dynamics of Urban Heat in Chicago (1992-2023)
- 11. Ava Mellor, The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: The Fallacy of Transit Migration: Decoupling Urban Renewal from Greyhound Bus Relocation in St. Louis, Missouri
- 12. Derek Frommelt, University of Northern Iowa: Generative AI and Spatial Thinking: Mysterious, Mysterious Tools
- 13. Michael Anderson, DePaul University: Reconnecting Communities or Replacing Them: Exploring Demographic Change Adjacent to Highway Removal Projects
- 14. Nola Ecker, Northern Michigan University: Food waste and mitigation strategies in Marquette County, MI: A qualitative study
- 15. Owen Nix, DePaul University: Disaster Capitalism: Uneven Neighborhood Reconstruction After Tornadoes
- 16. Azel Erck, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: The Saudi Arabia of Solar: Solar Power Potential in Texas
- 17. Bibek Ban, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, United States: Cross-Platform GEDI and ICESat-2 Spaceborne LiDAR Harmonization and Multi-Sensor Satellite Data Fusion for Canopy Height Estimation in Fragmented Temperate Hardwood Forests
- 18. Deborah Bunker, University of Northern Iowa: Watersheds, Planting Zones and Cultural Regions of the Contiguous United States
- 19. Fangyi Wang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: TillSight: Object-based tillage intensity ground truthing framework in the U.S. Midwest through multi-source imagery and vision-language foundation models
- 20. Tara Giri, Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Quantifying Flood Risk Reductions from an Unplanned Floodplain Reconnection along the Dogtooth Bend of the Mississippi River near Olive Branch, Illinois
- 21. Wasik Faisal, University of Northern Iowa: Who Lives on Shaking Ground? An Entropy-Weighted GIS Assessment of Earthquake Risk, Population Exposure and Economic Stakes in Bangladesh
- 22. Yuanzhi Ma, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: From Isolated Reservoirs to Cascade Reservoirs: Advancing a High-resolution Llobal Lake–river Modeling Framework
- 23. Kaisang Choodam, Univeristy of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Mapping Flood Extent and Impact of November 2025 Monsoon and Cyclone Senyar Floods in Southern Thailand Using Sentinel-1 SAR
- 24. Seth Echevarria, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville: The Relationship Between Tornado Intensity and Elevation Change in St. Louis
- 3:00 pm - 4:20 pm: Sessions III
- NHB 2020: Socio-environmental Processes and Places
- Patrick Nascimento, Indiana University: Thermal Inequality and Social Reproduction: How do gender, race and class drive urban climate injustice in the built environment?
- Lucia Amani, Indiana University: Wetlands as Community Infrastructure: Stewardship, Marronage, and Climate Resilience in Bahia, Brazil
- Celio Rocha Moura, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Rethinking the city through water: Amphibious Territorialities and the limits of urban planning instruments in Recife, Brazil.
- Matt Himley, Illlinois State University: Resources from Rubble? Science and the Meaning of Mining’s Material Remains in Late-Nineteenth-Century Peru
- (Moderator) Rebecca Lave, Indiana University: Biophysical Processes and the Spatial Fix
- NHB 2049: Student Perspectives from Illinois Geography & GIScience: Research, Community, and Professional Growth
- Cara Kovacs, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Yuankun Wang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Kei Yamato, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Alonso Bueno, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- NHB 2078: Land Use Change and Agriculture from Above and on the Ground
- Md Saqib Shahriar, University of Northern Iowa: From Port Town to Tourism Gateway: Land Cover Change (1990–2025) and Deep Learning Detection of Gers in Khatgal, Mongolia
- Yuankun Wang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: When Do Geo-Foundation Models Help Crop Type Mapping? Evaluating Transferability, Input Quality, and Label Efficiency
- Tianci Guo, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Phenological Retrieval of Corn Growth Stages through Hybridized Crop Modeling and Phenology Matching without Ground Reference Data
- Daniel Kpienbaareh, Illinois State University: Agroecological pest control strategies mitigate crop damage in Malawian smallholder farms
- (Moderator) Jelili Adebiyi, Northern Michigan University: Climate Variability and Associated Risks in Rice Cultivation: Farmers’ Perceptions, Well-being and Vulnerability in Eastern Uganda
- NHB 2084: Making Geography(ies) Visible
- Campbell Arington, Illinois State University: Colonial Legacies in Football: British Media Representations of the 2025 AFCON Final
- Gyudae Kim, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Public nuclear films and the geography of access: Los Alamos and the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1960s
- Vignesh Ramachandran, University of Wisconsin-Madison: What is geographic about algorithmic discrimination? Algorithms, racism, and the changing same
- Raechel Portelli, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Reconciling Human Vision in the Machine Vision World
- (Moderator) Lisa Tabor, University of Northern Iowa: Teaching with a Planetary Geography Mindset: Reorientation Toward Global Repair
- 4:30 pm - 5:40 pm
- West Lakes business meeting (NHB 2049)
- Geography Bowl competition (NHB 2020)
- 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Awards ceremony and dinner - Illini Union, Illini Rooms A/B (first floor)
- Welcoming remarks: U of I GGIS Department Chair Julie Cidell
- Buffet dinner
- Mixed Greens Salad (vegan, gluten-friendly)
- Beef Lasagna
- Chickpea Ratatouille (vegan, gluten-friendly)
- Garlic Red Mashed Potatoes (gluten-friendly)
- Broccoli with Lemon Zest and Roasted Garlic (vegan, vegetarian, gluten-friendly)
- Assorted Breads and Rolls w/ Butter (vegetarian)
- Cookie Assortment (vegetarian)
- Coffee, tea, and water
- Presentation: AAG Vice President Lorraine Dowler, The Pennsylvania State University
- Student awards ceremony
Please be aware that food on this catered buffet may contain or come into contact with common allergens, such as dairy, eggs, wheat, soybeans, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish or wheat.
Registration and Abstract Submission
Deadlines and Fees
- Registration fee
Regular: $199
Students/underemployed/unemployed: $40 - Abstracts due: 30 September
- Registration cancellation deadline: 10 October
Registration
- Register for the conference and submit abstracts through the AAG registration platform.
- Please ensure you register for the "West Lakes Regional Division Meeting 2026."
- If you do not already have an AAG account, you will need to register with AAG (the Join link) and log in before you can register. You do not need to be an AAG member to create an account or register for the meeting.
- To register a group of people using the same payment method, please contact Betsy Orgodol (borgodol@aag.org).
Abstracts
- After registering for the conference (see above), you can submit a poster or presentation abstract.
- Please make sure you are submitting for the "West Lakes Regional Division Meeting 2026."
Posters
- A 44" x 36" area of cork board with push pins will be assigned to each registered poster
- Please plan on mounting your poster by 12:30pm on Saturday in preparation for the poster session.
- Student posters will be entered into a poster competition with separate categories for undergraduate and graduate students.
Presentations
- Presentations will be scheduled in 15-minute blocks.
- All presentation rooms will have an LCD projector with HDMI cable.
- Each session chair should plan on bringing a laptop with appropriate adapters for HDMI output.
- Session participants should plan on bringing their presentation slides in the cloud, on USB drives, or on personal laptops (with HDMI connectors).
- Student papers will be entered into a competition with separate categories for undergraduate and graduate students.
Hotel
The Illini Union Hotel is conveniently located next door to NHB in the heart of the University of Illinois campus.
- One free parking permit hang tag per reservation is available for Illini Union Hotel guests at check-in.
Other hotels in walking distance include:
- The TownePlace Suites by Marriott, 603 South Sixth Street (1/4 mile west of NHB)
- The Hampton Inn Champaign Urbana, 1200 West University Avenue (1/2 mile north of NHB)
- Hotel Royer by Hilton Downtown Urbana, 210 South Race Street (1.1 miles east of NHB)
- Hyatt Place Downtown Champaign, 217 North Neil Street (1.5 miles west of NHB)