West Lakes Division American Association of Geographers (WLDAAG)

Student Competitions

All WLDAAG students presenting at the conference are eligible to participate in the Student Presentation Competition with cash awards and certificates for the top three oral papers and poster presentations by undergraduate and graduate student categories. Only one presentation will be allowed per student to be entered into the competition. You must be part of the West Lakes Division to be considered for these awards. These competitions will take place on Friday, October 21 and Saturday, if necessary.

Within each competition, undergraduates will be judged separately from graduate (MA/MS and PhD) students. When registering for the conference students who are presenting their research will see a menu option to select whether or not they wish to participate in the competition, and if so then whether they are entering the paper or poster competition. 

Student Competition Awards Available for 2022

AAG Council Award for Outstanding Graduate Student ($1,000)
AAG Council Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Student ($1,000)

Paper Presentations:

• Doctoral oral presentation 
  • 1^st place ($100), 2^nd place ($75), 3^rd place ($50) 
• Masters oral presentation
  • 1^st place ($100), 2^nd place ($75), 3^rd place ($50)
• Undergraduate oral presentation
  • 1^st place ($100),  2^nd place ($75), 3^rd place ($50)

Poster Presentations:

• D/M poster (graduate students are judged together in this category)
  • 1^st place ($100), 2^nd place ($75),  3^rd place ($50)
• Undergraduate poster
  • 1^st place ($100), 2^nd place ($75),  3^rd place ($50)

 AAG Council Award for Outstanding Undergraduate & Graduate Student Paper at a Regional Meeting

Undergraduate and Graduate students who enter the WLDAAG annual student oral presentation competition will also be considered for the AAG Council Award for Outstanding Undergraduate and Graduate Student Paper at a Regional Meeting, if they are a current student in a program in the West Lakes Division, and a current member of the AAG. The prize for this award is $1,000 in funding to be used toward registration and travel costs to attend the 2023 AAG Annual Meeting in Denver.  

The oral paper topic must be recent and original work completed by the student as primary and first author. The awardee will be required to make arrangements with the WLDAAG treasurer and the AAG national office to be reimbursed for expenses related to registering for and traveling to the AAG National Meeting.