Preparing Geography Students for the 21st Century Workforce

Using the recent AAG publication Practicing Geography: Careers for Enhancing Society and the Environment (Pearson 2013) as a resource, the workshop facilitators -- who are contributing authors to the book -- will introduce participants to a series of classroom activities that have been designed to raise students' awareness of employment prospects for geographers and to help them recognize and articulate the value of their geography training to potential employers.

The participants will then break into small groups to brainstorm ideas for adapting these exercises to the specific needs of students at their grade level and institution type. This workshop is suitable for educators at all grade levels and career stages.

Joseph Kerski is a geographer by training who believes that spatial analysis with GIS technology can transform education and society through better decision-making using the geographic perspective. He has served as a geographer and cartographer at NOAA, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the U.S. Geological Survey, and he has taught online and face-to-face courses at schools and universities. He currently teaches at the University of Denver and in the Esri MOOC program. Dr. Kerski serves as Education Manager for Esri in Denver, Colorado, focusing on GIS-based curriculum development, research in the implementation and effectiveness of GIS in education, teaching courses for educators, and fostering partnerships and communication to promote and support GIS in formal and informal education at all levels, internationally.