What Geographers Research: An Analysis of Geography Topics, Clusters, and Trends Using a Keyword Network Analysis Approach and the 2000-2019 AAG Conference Presentations

The spectrum of geographic research topics is very broad, and several thousands of research projects are presented at AAG annual conferences. This research aims at analyzing geography research topics, clusters, and trends using conference presentation data. We analyzed the 2000-2019 AAG conference presentations with keyword network analysis methods. The most frequently used keywords during the 20-year span were GIS, followed by Remote Sensing, Climate Change, Urban, China, Education, Political Ecology, Migration, Gender, and Agriculture. Results showed that geographic research has focused on six major clusters during 2000-2019: GIS, Urban, Climate Change, Political Ecology, People, and Education. About 68.6 percent of keywords were about the GIS, People, and Urban issues. The GIS keyword showed very strong connections with Remote Sensing, Urban, Spatial, Education, Climate Change, and Health. Over the 2015-2019 period, big data analysis and artificial intelligence became popular as emerging fields. This research also shows that the keyword network analysis is an effective method to summarize research trends in geography using conference presentation data. To some fellow geographers, the findings in this research may also cast meaningful insights into what geography is and where it is heading.