Home Newsletter Notices Officers Honors Awards Archive Features AAG Home Post to the Listserv	Honors of the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group The Robert McC. Netting Award On 4 February 1995 cultural ecologists lost one of their most distinguished colleagues. Dr. Robert McCorkle Netting, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, succumbed to bone cancer and complications resulting from valley fever. Netting's professional career spanned more than 30 years. It was characterized not only by research and publications of the highest quality, but also by a deep appreciation for geography and geographers. Focusing on human-environment interactions, especially subsistence and development issues, his activities were, and his writings are, as much geographical as anthropological. He bridged the two disciplines perhaps better than anyone else, and certainly from the anthropological side. In honor and memory of him, his life's work, and interdisciplinary spirit, the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers has established an award made to that person whose professional activities best embody those of Robert McC. Netting. The award is named "The (year) Robert McC. Netting Award in recognition of distinguished research and professional activities that bridge geography and anthropology." The award is normally made annually, but an award need not be made in any one year if a deserving candidate cannot be identified. Under no circumstances is more than one award made annually. The award is in the form of a plaque or framed certificate. Awardees are selected by the officers of the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group through a process agreed upon by themselves. Awardees need not be a member of the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group, the Association of American Geographers, or be a geographer. The award is not necessarily made for any one piece of work or single activity, but rather is for significant and substantial interdisciplinary work. It is not a "book award" although the author of a particularly important book, one making a major impact, would not be excluded. The intent is to recognize scholars who have distinguished themselves through involvement with interdisciplinary geographical and anthropological projects, and/or have published extensively in both anthropological and geographical journals, and/or whose work is read and appreciated by practitioners in both fields, and/or whose service to both disciplines is meritorious. The award is presented by the Chair of the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group, or her or his designate, at the awards ceremonies at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers. AWARDEES BY YEAR 2010, Tony Bebbington, testimonial by Brad Jokisch and Billie Lee Turner II 2009, Piers M. Blaikie, testimonial by Joshua Muldavin 2008, Michael Mortimore, testimonial by Simon Batterbury 2007, Michael J. Watts, testimonial by William E. Doolittle and Simon Batterbury 2006, William I. Woods, testimonial by Antoinette Winklerprins 2005, Christine Padoch, testimonial by Harold Brookfield 2004, Lawrence Grossman, testimonial by Phil E. Porter 2003, William E. Doolittle, testimonial by Andrew Sluyter 2002, Emilio F. Moran, testimonial by Eric Keys 2001, Billie Lee Turner II, testimonial by Tom Whitmore 2000, Barney Nietschmann, testimonial by William Denevan 1999, Karl Butzer, testimonial by William E. Doolittle 1998, William M. Denevan, testimonial by Gregory Knapp 1997, Harold C. Brookfield, testimonial by Eric Waddell 1996, Philip W. Porter, testimonial by Nick Dunning The James M. Blaut Award "The James M. Blaut Innovative Publication Award.  On 11 November 2000, cultural and political ecologists lost one of their most committed colleagues. Dr. James M. Blaut, Professor of Geography and Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, succumbed to cancer. His professional career spans half a century and is characterized by, among other qualities, innovative research on tropical agriculture, development, and colonialism. In honor and memory of his seminal contributions, the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers has established an award made to that person who publishes a book or journal article that best embodies the creativity and rigor of Jim Blaut's own publications. The award is named "The (year) James M. Blaut Award in recognition of innovative scholarship in cultural and political ecology, as demonstrated by publication of (article or book title)." The award is made for a single publication that is clearly innovative and has the potential to be seminal in areas of research that are important to the members of the Group. The intent is to recognize authors at any stage in their careers who demonstrate leadership through broadly influential, critical, innovative thinking. Jim Blaut's publications on diffusionism and the colonizer's model of the world provide models for judging such accomplishment. The publication can be a journal article or a book but must be sole-authored. The award is normally made annually, but an award need not be made in any one year if a deserving candidate cannot be identified. Under no circumstances is more than one award made annually. The book or article must have been published within the two calendar years preceding the year of award. On the basis of nominations by the general membership of the Group, members of its Board will select the awardee through a process agreed upon by themselves. Nominations must be accompanied by full publication details and a rationale for making the award on the basis of that publication. Nominees need not be academics, geographers, members of the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group, or members of the Association of American Geographers. The award, in the form of a plaque or certificate, is presented by the Chair of the Group or her or his designate at the awards ceremonies at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers." AWARDEES BY YEAR 2010, Joel Wainwright, testimonial by Paul Robbins 2008. Decolonizing Development: Colonial Power and the Maya. Blackwell Publishing. 2009, Paul Robbins, testimonial by Kevin St. Martin 2007. Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who We Are. Temple University Press. 2008, Diana Davis, testimonial by Paul Robbins 2007. Resurrecting the Granary of Rome: Environmental History and French Colonial Expansion in North Africa. Ohio University Press. 2005, Christian Kull 2004. Isle of Fire: The Political Ecology of Landscape Burning in Madagascar. University of Chicago Press. 2004, Andrew Sluyter, testimonial by William E. Doolittle 2002. Colonialism and Landscape: Postcolonial Theory and Applications. Lanham: Roman and Littlefield. 2003, Judith Carney, testimonial by Paul Robbins 2001. Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
© CAPE	Page last updated June 24, 2008