York University was well represented at the 2003 annual meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) in New Orleans March 4-8. Six faculty members and 10 graduate students from York''s Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) and a graduate student from York''s Women''s Studies Program presented papers at the meeting. This was the highest number of York FES students and faculty participating at an AAG meeting.
Papers covered a wide range of topics, from citizen activism on the Oak Ridge Moraine to the socio-ecological consequences of the E-coli outbreak at Walkerton to postmodern planning in Toronto.
"The AAG conference was an excellent experience for me," said Teresa Abbruzzese, right, a second-year student in the MES planning program, whose paper was entitled "Italian Mothers in an Ethnoburb: Creating Spaces of Inclusion and Exclusion".
"I felt that FES had a strong presence at this conference. A few students and professors from other universities said they thought we were a special group because we were a cohesive bunch and we encompassed many ‘bright’ individuals. A professor from U of T was somewhat envious of our group, and told me that I made a very good decision going to York’s FES because he saw the support system that I had," said Abbruzzese.
Abbruzzese said Lawrence Berg, editor of the Canadian Geographer approached her later about submitting her paper for publication.
FES participants included faculty members Harris Ali, Gene Desfor, Liette Gilbert, Roger Keil, Anders Sandberg and Gerda R. Wekerle; PhD students Lauren Baker, Colin E. Chambers, Jennifer Cypher, Jennifer Joan Foster, Colin Curtis Lund, Michael D.T. McMahon and Catherine Phillips; and master''s students Teresa Abbruzzese, Ann Novogradec and Sandra K. Patano. In addition, Leslie Kern, a PhD student in York''s Women''s Studies program, presented a paper at the conference.