ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION & BEHAVIORAL SPECIALTY GROUP Spring/2009-Spring/2010 ANNUAL REPORT

Mission Statement

Our mission is to advance the theoretical and applied interests of environmental perception and behavioral geography within the discipline of geography, developing links to related disciplines through communication and organization. Environmental perception and behavior geography (EPBG) is a broad subarea within geography that takes a disaggregate approach to the study of human activity, culture, and society. It is concerned with a diverse set of issues about human behavior, perception, attitudes, beliefs, memory, language, intentions, reasoning and problem-solving involving space and place. EPBG research is motivated by two premises, that understanding these issues will help improve traditional models in , and that these issues constitute geographic problems in their own right. Furthermore, to an EPBG researcher, people are not interchangeable parts for study but may differ as a function of their culture, socioeconomic status, age, gender, education, travel experiences, differing abilities, and more. EPBG researchers employ a wide array of research methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative, and have interdisciplinary contact with , , history, phenomenology, micro-, computer , literature, and disciplines.

2009-2010 Dues

Dues will remain the same as they have been in the past: Students $1; Others $5. * Note that at 2008 business meeting the SG agreed to waive dues for members from developing nations. Therefore, the SG will not object to the AAG doing this automatically for specialty groups.

Board of Directors for Spring/2009-Spring/2010 (Elections for 2010-2011 held at meeting)

Immediate Past-President: Dave Lemberg, Western Michigan University President: Kathy Sherman-Morris, Mississippi State University Secretary-Treasurer: Jon Malinowski, United States Military Academy Academic Director: Dan Montello, University of California Santa Barbara Academic Director: Chris Badurek, Appalachian State University Newsletter Editor: Jon Malinowski, United States Military Academy Student Director: Rui Li, Pennsylvania State University

Accomplishments

Awards: • James Waynick was named the winner of the Saarinen Student Paper Award. His paper was titled Spatial of Campus Crime and Surveyed Perceptions of Safety to Inform and Emergency Management • Travel Grants had been awarded to Katie Mann, James Waynick and Martin Swobodzinski. Future Plans and Directions • Due to a shrinking budget, the EPBG will re-evaluate the number of travel grants it awards. Five awards is now possible, but could not be funded. Two awards seems more realistic. • We will also inquire from members if there is any interest in setting up an award in the name of Reginald Golledge. This would most likely need to be funded through donations. • Finally, Rui Li is going to experiment with designing a new EPBG logo.

Business Meeting at the Washington DC AAG Conference

I. Routine Business • Kathy Sherman-Morris (“President”) opened the meeting at 8:00 pm and welcomed the attendees. • The President gave a summary of the chairs’ meeting she attended, announcing that SG chairs may be given the ability to group papers after submission window closes, gave meeting statistics, mentioned the goal to explore connections with Asian geographers at next year’s meeting, discussed including sponsors (over 3) in session descriptions, and reported that new website will be rolled out this year. She also discussed old business including the facebook page and newsletter. EPBG membership is 328, a slight increase over the past year. • Jon Malinowski was not present to give the Treasurer’s Report. The Specialty Group had $1064.39 in the fall. • Chris Badurek and Kathy announced that Travel Grants had been awarded to Katie Mann, James Waynick and Martin Swobodzinski. All were present to accept. • James Waynick was named the winner of the Saarinen Student Paper Award. His paper was titled Spatial Analysis of Campus Crime and Surveyed Perceptions of Safety to Inform Environmental Design and Emergency Management • Chris Badurek was elected to the president’s position (a two-year term) opening 1 year of his academic director position. • Charles Shore was elected to fill the remainder of Chris’s academic director position. • Kathy Sherman-Morris was elected to fill the two-year Academic Director’s position. • Martin Swobodzinski was elected to fill the vice president’s position, a two-year term.

II. Open Discussion • Kathy Sherman-Morris brought up the fact that the number of prizes the SG awards can not be sustained with the amount of money coming into the budget. Several suggestions were made including lowering number and size of travel awards, raising Saarinen award size but lowering travel awards, and not paying student representative’s registration beginning with next rep. There was some consensus around $250 for Saarinen and $100 for two travel awards (and to keep funding the student rep’s registration fee), but the SG decided to give academic directors the authority to make final decision on award money once it was determined how much money is being collected in dues. • There was some discussion of 2010 session topics. No definitive topics were agreed upon. Suggestions included papers in honor of Reg Golledge, perception of Klamath Dam and Dam removal as well as the disasters waiting to happen in Pacific Northwest • Rui Li suggested that we refresh the EPBG logo and incorporate it into the next newsletter. He will be following up on this task. • The suggestion was made and agreed upon to ask members if anyone would be willing to contribute to a Reginald Golledge fund to present a student paper award in his name. • The meeting was adjourned at 8:55pm

Membership and Participation We currently have 328 members in our specialty group. Of the total, 194 are student members and 134 are non-student members.

Financial Report

Balance (October 2009) $ 1064.39