In 2011, as National Council for Geographic Education president, I wrote at least one tweet everyday beginning with 'What is Geography? 1 of 365' on my Twitter page. I also posted a monthly movie to my YouTube channel, which is approaching 1,000 geography-related videos.



I continue to tweet and create videos for several reasons. First, I want to provide evidence of the diversity of geography to nudge people beyond thinking of geography only as the location of things. What do geographers care about, and why? I explore themes of scale, patterns, and relationships, topics such as watersheds, energy, ecoregions, climate, and population density, and discuss different regions while on location all around the world. Geography is diversity in people, landscapes, issues, skills, and themes.

Second, I aim to point out how organizations such as the NCGE and the Geographical Association serve society through webinars, book and journal publications, conferences, curricula, research, partnerships, and networking.

Third, I aim to show that geography is high-tech and rigorous, employing scientific probes measuring soil moisture, weather conditions, and water quality, plus GPS, remote sensing imagery, GIS, quantitative techniques, and much more.

Fourth, I want to illustrate that geography is exciting! I discuss geography while skiing, on a wind farm, on a street median in Manhattan, while kayaking, touching the K-T boundary, and in other fascinating places.

My fifth aim is to illustrate that geography is a three-legged stool — a rich body of content, a specific set of skills and abilities, and a way of seeing the world spatially.

Sixth, above everything else, my aim is to show that geography matters. As we grapple with complex global issues that increasingly affect our everyday lives, such as sustainable development, energy, water, natural hazards, political instability, and food security, the study and application of geography is more relevant to our world than ever before. GIS is a fundamental tool that can help us understand and solve problems related to these issues. Those applying the geographic perspective are making a positive impact on people and the planet.

The 12 installments in the monthly NCGE president's video series are as follows:

1


(we haven't embedded the rest of the videos as it will slow the download of this page)

2 A personal NCGE vision

3 Why is Fieldwork Important? This was mentioned by GIS User as being one of the 10 best GIS movies of 2011!

4 Why Scale Matters

5 What does a Sit n' Spin have to do with change and geography education? 

6 The geographic impact of freeways 

7 Siting a Ski Area using spatial analysis and GIS 

8 The K-T boundary and scientific mysteries

9 Geographic examination of past, present, and potential future sea levels

10 Geographic perspectives on livestock, climate, and land use

11 Geography and Poetry

12 Geography Matters, including 1 minute elevator speech  

But I think my favorite might be my geographic spoof on It's A Wonderful Life. Or perhaps Swimming to Wisconsin.  

I hope these resources are helpful to educators and even to the general public. How might you use these resources, and your own postings and activities, to demonstrate to the wider community that geography matters?

Joseph J. Kerski