From April 9th to 13th 2013 the Association of American Geographers (AAG) will hold their 2013 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. The business centers of three hotels in downtown LA (Westin Bonaventure, LA Downtown Hotel, Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles) are being prepared to host more than 6,000 sessions about all topics related to geography. Have a look at the preliminary program posted on the AAG website to get an idea of the breadth of topics covered.

I especially want to mention the session I myself will be hosting at this year’s meeting. It’s called “Geography, GIScience, and Anthropogenic Hazards” (1502), is kindly sponsored by the AAG Hazards, Risks, and Disasters Specialty Group and will feature presentations by three fellow researchers and myself:

• Yanqing Xu, Fahui Wang (both Louisiana State University): “Spatial Heterogeneity between Built Environment and Obesity”
• Dongkwan Lee, Jean-Michel Guldmann, Burkhard Von Rabenau (all The Ohio State University): “Impacts of Urban Environmental Factor on Traffic Crashes”
• Joshua Regan (Western Connecticut State University): “Geographic Barriers as Means of Reducing Crime”
• Konstantin Greger (University of Tsukuba): “Spatial Methodologies for the Analysis of Vulnerability in Urban Areas – A Case Study for Terrorism in Tokyo, Japan”

This session is scheduled on the first day of the conference, Tuesday April 9th, from 2:40 PM to 4:20 PM in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, room Beaudry B (Lobby Level). You are cordially invited to join, and I would be more than happy to see you there!

It’s not too late to register for the conference! Actually, the early bird period will end on March 15th, so you shouldn’t wait for too long. Of course, registration after that day is also possible.