SAM Meetings

The 2026 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

San Francisco, CA: March 17-21, 2026

SAM Sponsored Sessions

2026 AAG Symposium on GeoAI and Deep Learning for Geospatial Research

Type: Paper
Organizer(s): Yingjie Hu, University at Buffalo; Song Gao, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Wenwen Li, Arizona State University; Budhu Bhaduri, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Orhun Aydin, Saint Louis University; Shawn Newsam, University of California, Merced; Samantha T. Arundel, United States Geological Survey; Gengchen Mai, University of Texas Austin; Krzysztof Janowicz, University of Vienna
Contact: Yingjie Hu, yhu42@buffalo.edu
Description: The field of GeoAI is advancing rapidly. New AI models, such as vision foundation models, large language models, and multimodal foundation models, provide new possibilities for developing geospatial solutions. Spatial principles, such as Tobler’s First Law, are being incorporated into AI architectures to create spatially explicit models, while explainable GeoAI methods are being explored to improve the interpretability of results. From an application perspective, GeoAI research continues playing positive roles in addressing societal challenges and helping achieve sustainable development goals. Examples include improving individual and population health, enhancing community resilience to disasters, predicting spatiotemporal traffic flows, forecasting climate change impacts on ecosystems, building smart and connected communities and cities, and supporting humanitarian mapping and policymaking. At the same time, the rapid advancement of GeoAI also carries risks, such as the increased opaqueness of large AI models and the environmental costs of training them. How can we continue leveraging GeoAI for making positive impacts while mitigating potential risks? The 2026 AAG GeoAI Symposium aims to bring together geographers, GIScientists, remote sensing scientists, computer scientists, health researchers, urban planners, transportation professionals, disaster response experts, ecologists, earth system scientists, stakeholders, and others to share recent GeoAI research, discuss challenges, and chart the way forward for the coming years.

Artificial Intelligence in Urban Climate Action: Integrating Data, Science, and Planning

Type: Panel
Organizer(s): Alamin Molla, Arizona State University
Contact: Alamin Molla, amolla@asu.edu
This panel session explores the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in advancing research and practice within urban climate science, and planning. As cities worldwide face intensifying climate challenges—from extreme heat and air pollution to flooding and infrastructure stress—AI-driven approaches are redefining how we observe, model, and respond to complex urban environmental processes. By integrating satellite imagery, sensor networks, Internet of Things (IoT) data, social media information, and socio-demographic datasets, AI enables high-resolution analysis of urban climate dynamics and reliable future projections in a computationally efficient manner. It also advances exposure pattern and human mobility modeling, helping to uncover how population movement, activity patterns, and environmental risks intersect to shape vulnerability and adaptive capacity across urban areas. These advancements hold great promises for supporting evidence-based, equitable urban design and policymaking. This session brings together experts in urban climate science, geospatial data science, artificial intelligence, and urban planning to discuss how AI can improve climate resilience, inform mitigation strategies, and bridge the gap between research and actionable policy in cities around the world.

GIScience at Cal: Celebrating Dr. John Radke’s Academic Career and Retirement

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Lan Mu, University of Georgia; Weimin Li, Cal Poly Pomona; Yang Ju, Nanjing University
Organizer(s): Lan Mu, University of Georgia; Weimin Li, Cal Poly Pomona; Yang Ju, Nanjing University
Contact: Lan Mu, mulan@uga.edu
Description: Join us in celebrating Dr. John Radke’s retirement and legacy at UC Berkeley. As founding director of the GIScience Center and a leader in spatial analysis and climate resilience, Dr. Radke shaped GIScience at Cal. This session invites colleagues, collaborators, and former students to share research and personal reflections. The session will conclude with remarks from our Guest of Honor, Dr. Radke.
Presentation Format: Cal GIScience and Me (~5 min): A personal reflection; GIScience Research (~10 min): Share current work

Movement analytics in the era of big data, AI, and open science

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Somayeh Dodge, University of California, Santa Barbara
Organizer(s): Somayeh Dodge, University of California, Santa Barbara
Contact: Somayeh Dodge, sdodge@geog.ucsb.edu
Description: This research panel explores the transformative impact of the growing availability of big movement data combined with advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence on movement pattern analysis. Emphasizing applications across diverse fields such as urban planning, transportation management, public health, pandemic response, disaster relief, and wildlife conservation, the panel highlights both opportunities and challenges posed by sensitive and heterogeneous movement data. Key methodological issues including data representation, integration, privacy, knowledge transfer, and governance will be examined. Panelists will discuss how geographic perspectives enrich movement analyses by providing essential spatial and temporal context. The conversation will also address strategies to promote open science and reproducible research practices in this rapidly evolving interdisciplinary field.

Multiple Hazards, Shared Vulnerabilities: Measuring, Modeling, and Mitigating Urban Heat, Air Pollution, and Flood Risk

Type: Paper
Organizer(s): Alamin Molla, Arizona State University
Contact: Alamin Molla, amolla@asu.edu
Cities are increasingly shaped by multiple, compounding hazards—such as extreme heat,1 air pollution,2 and flooding3—that threaten public health,4 infrastructure,5 and social equity.6 Certain hazards, such as heat and air pollution, frequently co-occur,7 producing synergistic health impacts during compound events that exceed those of single-hazard exposures. Others, such as flooding, may unfold on different timescales but stress the same urban systems and disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations.8 These intersecting risks can also trigger cascading effects across urban systems such as public health, energy, and transportation.9,10 Such challenges underscore the urgent need for improved understanding, reliable forecasting, and robust mitigation strategies. This session brings together climate scientists, urban planners, and geospatial researchers to examine multi-hazard risks from complementary perspectives. For heat, discussions will address advances in measuring exposure, identifying urban heat islands, and evaluating mitigation strategies with attention to spatial patterns, effectiveness, and implications for equity. For air pollution, panelists will highlight innovations in sensor networks, spatial modeling, and planning-based interventions such as emissions controls, zoning, and urban design to improve air quality. For flooding, presentations will emphasize remote sensing and GIS approaches to mapping inundation and vulnerability, predicting flood dynamics, and informing infrastructure resilience and adaptive urban planning. By integrating geospatial analysis, climate science, urban planning, and environmental justice, this session will demonstrate how interdisciplinary approaches can uncover overlapping vulnerabilities, prioritize high-impact interventions, and support more equitable, resilient urban futures.

Smart Urban Governance & e-Planning

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Carlos Nunes Silva, Lisbon, Portugal
Organizer(s): Carlos Nunes Silva, Lisbon, Portugal
Contact: Carlos Nunes Silva, cnsilva@netcabo.pt
The Session reviews global trends, challenges and innovations in the digitalization of Urban Governance and Urban Planning. It invites studies on these and related issues: Digital Urban Government and Urban Planning, AI in Urban Governance, Urban Planning in the AI City, Citizen e-Participation in Urban Governance, Citizen Science and Urban e-Planning, Co-creation in Urban e-Governance, Crowdsensing / Crowdsourcing Spatial Information, Participatory Mapping and Public Engagement in Urban Planning, Virtual/Mixed/Augmented reality in online participation, Social Media in Urban e-Planning. Studies of countries, cities, or municipalities—including individual or comparative research—are encouraged. The Session is supported by the 'Urban e-Planning Research Network (UEPNET)'.

The 12th Symposium on Human Dynamics Research

Type: Paper
Organizer(s): Xinyue Ye, The University of Alabama; Xiao Huang, Emory University; Yang Xu, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Contact: Xinyue Ye, xye10@ua.edu; Xiao Huang, xiao.huang2@emory.edu; Yang Xu, yang.ls.xu@polyu.edu.hk
Description: We are delighted to announce that our Symposium on Human Dynamics Research is entering its 12th year of advancing scholarship and community building in geography and GIScience. As we stand at this pivotal moment—where the world has evolved into a hybrid physical–virtual realm shaped by artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies—it is fitting to reflect on our accomplishments and chart a course for the future. The foundation of human dynamics research lies in understanding human needs, wants, and constraints in relation to space and place. This tradition remains central to our symposium. At the same time, we recognize that the very nature of these dynamics is being reshaped by intelligent systems. Therefore, the special theme of the 2026 Symposium will be: “Human–AI Dynamics: Rethinking People, Place, and Algorithms.”

The 2025 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

Detroit, MI: March 24-28, 2025

SAM Sponsored Sessions

Artificial intelligence and complex human-environment systems: Mutual linkages and benefits

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Li An, Auburn University
Organizer(s): Li An, Auburn University; Tom Evans, University of Arizona; Fang Qiu, University of Texas at Dallas; Wenwu Tang, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Contact: Li An, anli@auburn.edu

Citizen Participation in Urban e-Planning
View session

Type: Virtual Paper
Chair(s): Carlos Nunes Silva
Organizer(s): Carlos Nunes Silva
Contact: Carlos Nunes Silva, cnsulisboa@gmail.com

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: Generative AI - Opportunities and Challenges for GIScience Research
View session

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Junghwan Kim, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Organizer(s): Junghwan Kim, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Contact: Junghwan Kim, junghwankim@vt.edu

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: Representing geographic locations in AI models: Methods and Applications
View session

Type: Panel
Chair(s): Yingjie Hu, University At Buffalo
Organizer(s): Yingjie Hu, University At Buffalo; Gengchen Mai, University of Texas at Austin; Song Gao, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Contact: Yingjie Hu, yhu42@buffalo.edu

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: Human-Centered Geospatial Data Science

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Jiaxin Feng, Dartmouth College; Hoeyun Kwon; Yuhao Kang
Organizer(s): Jiaxin Feng, Dartmouth College; Hoeyun Kwon; Yuhao Kang
Contact: Jiaxin Feng, Jiaxin.Feng@dartmouth.edu

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: Spatial Data Science and GeoAI Ethics: Bridging Research and Education
View session

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Yue Lin, University of Chicago
Organizer(s): Yue Lin, University of Chicago; Hongyu Zhang, McGill University; Bing Zhou, Pennsylvania State University
Contact: Yue Lin, liny2@uchicago.edu

GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium: Spatially Explicit Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
View session

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Gengchen Mai, University of Texas at Austin
Organizer(s): Gengchen Mai, University of Texas at Austin; Yao-Yi Chiang, Valparaiso University; Di Zhu, University of Minnesota; Hao Yang, University of Georgia
Contact: Gengchen Mai, gengchen.mai@austin.utexas.edu

Harnessing Spatial Analysis for Animal Conservation
View session

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Yeamin Chowdhury, University of Texas - Dallas; Anthony Cummings
Organizer(s): Yeamin Chowdhury, University of Texas - Dallas
Contact: Yeamin Chowdhury, yxc200012@utdallas.edu

Human Mobility Patterns in Response to Natural Hazards
View session

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Jed Long, Western University; Hailyee Ha
Organizer(s): Jed Long, Western University; Hailyee Ha
Contact: Jed Long, jed.long@uwo.ca

Integrative future-oriented approaches for transformative socio-environmental change
View session

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Emily Burchfield, Emory University, Department of Environmental Sciences; Julien Vastenaekels
Organizer(s): Emily Burchfield, Emory University, Department of Environmental Sciences; Julien Vastenaekels
Contact: Emily Burchfield, emily.burchfield@emory.edu

Metrics and Beyond: Exploring the Structural Drivers of Health & SDOH

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Marc Astacio-Palmer, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Organizer(s): Marc Astacio-Palmer, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Contact: Marc Astacio-Palmer, mastacio@illinois.edu

Navigating the Urban Heat Crisis: Science, Solutions, and Social Equity

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Alamin Molla, Arizona State University; David Sailor, Arizona State University
Organizer(s): Alamin Molla, Arizona State University; David Sailor, Arizona State University
Contact: Alamin Molla, amolla@asu.edu

Spatiotemporal Changes, Socio-Environmental Impacts, and GeoAI in Human Mobility and Homelessness Studies

Type: Paper
Chair(s): Jaehee Park, San Diego State University
Organizer(s): Jaehee Park, Atsushi Nara, Ming-Hsiang Tsou, Christopher Swindell, San Diego State University
Contact: Jaehee Park, jpark1200@sdsu.edu; Christopher Swindell, cswindell5992@sdsu.edu

Symposium on Geospatial Approaches to Pressing Grand Challenges: Global Pandemic, Climate Change, and Food Security - Spatial Analysis for Social Good
View session

Spatial Analysis and Modeling - Events

SAM at AAG Conferences

The 2026 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

SAM Sponsored Sessions

The 2025 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

SAM Sponsored Sessions

The 2021 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

The 2019 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

The 2015 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

The 2014 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

The 2013 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

The 2011 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

The 2010 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

The 2009 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers

Conferences

American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting

North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) - Promoting Regional Science in Canada and the United States

Western Regional Science Association (WRSA) – North American Regional Science Council

2025 Esri Federal GIS Conference Association International