The Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences at Michigan State University is proud to announce that Jiquan Chen has received the 2025 American Association of Geographers Distinguished Scholarship Award in recognition of his transformative impact on geography and environmental science. With over 600 publications and more than $30 million in research funding, Chen has made significant advances in understanding global ecosystems and the interactions between humans and nature. His groundbreaking SESometry framework has provided a new approach to measuring and analyzing the socioecological impacts of climate change, influencing both policy and scientific research worldwide.

A fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Ecological Society of America, Chen's contributions have reshaped landscape ecology and sustainable resource management. Through his leadership at Michigan State University's Landscape Ecology and Ecosystem Science Lab, he has also mentored the next generation of scholars, extending his influence across the field. His achievements reflect an unwavering commitment to scientific innovation and the pursuit of sustainable solutions to global challenges.

AAG Honors are offered annually to recognize outstanding accomplishments by members in research and scholarship, teaching, education, service to the discipline, public service outside academe, and for lifetime achievement. In particular, the AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors category celebrates a career-long, distinguished track record of high-quality research in geography, which has moved the discipline forward. Candidates may be recognized for transformative scholarship in any sub-discipline of geography, an extensive and impressive record of funding from foundations or government agencies, and/or setting standards of exemplary behavior in scholarly practice. A significant and impactful publication record is also an important factor for recognition under this category of AAG Honors.

"We are proud to honor these scholars and practitioners for their contributions to the interdisciplinary, creative, and scientific practice of our discipline," said Gary Langham, Executive Director of the AAG. "Their work enhances the scholarship, teaching, knowledge, and activism that advance our field."

For more than 100 years, AAG has contributed to the advancement of geography. Our members from nearly 100 countries share interests in the theory, methods, and practice of geography, which they cultivate through the AAG's Annual Meeting, scholarly journals (Annals of the American Association of Geographers, The Professional Geographer, the AAG Review of Books and GeoHumanities), and the online AAG Newsletter. The AAG is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1904.

Dr. Chen will be presented with this award at the 2025 AAG Annual Meeting scheduled to take place in Detroit from March 24-28, 2025.

This story originally appeared on the College of Social Science website.