If you wish to contact one of our officers, please utilize the form on our contact us page.

Zoe Pearson, The Ohio State University, Chair

Zoe is a PhD student at Ohio State in geography, minoring in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Her research interests include nature-society theory, feminist and political geography, geographies of Latin America, and issues of social and environmental justice surrounding resource production, extraction and use. She served as GSAG Vice-Chair last year, and looks forward to organizing some GSAG events at the AAGs this year as Chair.

David Parr, Texas State University - San Marcos, Vice-Chair

David Parr is a 3rd year PhD student in the Department of Geography at Texas State University-San Marcos. His research interests include Volunteered Geographic Information and the intersection of geography, society and spatial thinking.

James Baginski, The Ohio State University, Treasurer-Secretary

James Baginski is a third year PhD student in the department of geography at Ohio State University. His research is in urban and economic geography, though his general geographic interests and teaching experiences are much broader, and include elements of both human and physical geographies. James has been involved with GSAG for two years, last year as a director and liaison to the AAG’s Enhancing Departments and Graduate Education (EDGE) project. Presently, he is the secretary/treasurer for GSAG as well as the GSAG-EDGE liaison. When not busy with school-related matters, James is an avid fly fisher, bike rider, and gardener.

Board Members

Chris Riley, The Ohio State University, Board Member

Chris Riley is the former chair of GSAG and returns this year as an member of the GSAG board of directors. He is a Ph.D. candidate with plans to graduate in June 2012. His dissertation fieldwork took place in Charlotte, NC, where Chris studied Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District's (CMS) successful and nationally well-received implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). His fieldwork critically engages the methods that this large urban district used to meet NCLB benchmarks and evaluates how CMS' results might be generalized for other large urban districts around the United States. Chris's past projects include his undergraduate thesis, a study of the reasons for tensions between Somali Refugees and African-Americans following Somali resettlement in Columbus, and his master's thesis, a study of similar tensions unfolding across four racial/ethnic groups in a Columbus area high school.

Daniel Wilson, Oklahoma State University, Board Member

Denise Marie Dixon Goerisch, San Diego State/UC Santa Barbara, Board Member

I’m a 3rd year PhD candidate in the joint doctoral program at San Diego State University and UC Santa Barbara. I am currently conducting research on the spatial intersections of gender, capitalism and childhood in the Girl Scout cookie sales. I am the founder and president of Supporting Women in Geography (SWIG) – SDSU Chapter, where we organize workshops, brown bags, and colloquium surrounding issues of women in geography. In addition to SWIG, I am also a volunteer with the Girl Scouts of San Diego and in the past volunteered with a HIV/AIDS advocacy group formed of older Girl Scouts. When not researching, dissertating or volunteering, I enjoy gardening, pursuing a career as a professional bocce player, and going to the park with my dog, Nori.

Jeff Olson, The Ohio State University, Board Member

Necati Anaz, University of Oklahoma, Board Member

Sharon Wilcox Adams, University of Texas - Austin, Board Member

Sharon Wilcox Adams is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the University of Texas at Austin. Her Master?s thesis addressed the construction, representation and performance of race and ethnicity within the Afro-indigenous communities in Belize, culminating with her thesis, Reconstructing Identity: Representational Strategies in the Garifuna Community of Dangriga, Belize. Her dissertation Encountering El Tigre: Jaguars and People in the United States, 1700-2010 examines the modern perception and representation of jaguars in the American southwest.