Pruitt Lecture Series

Evelyn PruittEvelyn Pruitt was born in 1918 in San Francisco. She received degrees in geography from UCLA in 1940 and 1943. Evelyn moved to Washington, D.C. in 1942 where she worked as a cartographic editor with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. In 1948 Evelyn moved to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) where she remained until retirement 25 years later. During her years with ONR she was a prime mover in the development of coastal science including the foundation of the internationally famous Coastal Studies Institute at LSU. After retirement she served as a consultant for several organizations including the Army Corps of Engineers. She sponsored the research of many members of the LSU geography department including R. J. Russell, F. B. Kniffen, W. G. Haag, R. C. West, W. G. McIntire and H. J. Walker. Her generous last contribution to LSU geography was in the form of an endowment to assist women graduate students.


2003

Prof. Anne ButtimerProf. Anne Buttimer
President, International Geographical Union
Professor, University College, Dublin, Ireland
Landscape, Life and the Heart of Geography:
Pioneering Ideas of Alexander von Humbolt, 1769-1859


2004

Dr. Risa PalmDr. Risa Palm
Executive Vice-Chancellor & Provost
Louisiana State University
Look Who's Talking! The Geography
of International Telecommunication


2005

Dr. Irasema Alcántara-AyalaDr. Irasema Alcántara-Ayala
Institute of Geography, National Autonomous University
of Mexico (UNAM) and President-Sociedad Mexicana de Geomorfologia
Geomorphology, Natural Hazards, Vulnerability,
and Prevention of Natural Disasters in Developing Countries


2006

Prof. Susan HansonProf. Susan Hanson
Landry University Professor and
Professor of Geography, Clark University
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Geography, Gender, and Entrepreneurship


 2007

Dr. Nancy LewisDr. Nancy Lewis
Director, Research Program East-West Center, Honolulu
Is Globalization Good for Your Health?


2008

Dr. Judith CarneyDr. Judith Carney
Department of Geography
University of California, Los Angeles
African Rice in Atlantic Worlds:
Diasporics of a Crop and its Cuisine


2009

Prof. Sally HornProf. Sally Horn
Department of Geography
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Pre-Columbian Agriculture, Forest Disturbance,
and Holocene Climate Variability in the Circum-Caribbean REgion:
Evidence from Sediments and Soils


2010

Dr. Sallie MarstonDr. Sallie Marston
School of Geography and Development
University of Arizona
Of Eagles and Flies: Orientations to the Site
and Cases of Radical Politics


2011

Dr. Kathleen O'ReillyDr. Kathleen O'Reilly 
Department of Geography
Texas A&M University 
Under an Open Sky:  Sanitation and the Re-ordering of Spaces in India


 2012

Dr. Patricia GoberDr. Patricia Gober 
Decision Center for a Desert City
Decision Making for Water Security: Reflections
from the USA and Canada 


2013

Dr. Sheryl BeachDr. Sheryl Beach 
Geography and Geoinformational Science 
George Mason University
A Mirror for the Maya:  Using Geoarchaeology
to Understand Ancient Maya Wetland Interactions 


2014

Dr. Janice MonkDr. Janice Monk 
Geography/Research Social Scientist Emerita, Southwest Institute  
for Research on Women
University of Arizona
Washington Women:  Practicing Geography in the U.S Government


2015

Dr. Sara McLafferty

Dr. Sara McLafferty 
Department of Geography and  
Geographic Information Science
Centralization and Spatial Transformation of Primary
Health Care Access:  Trends in Metropolitan Chicago


2016

Dr. Diane HorneDr. Diane Horn 
Department of Geography, 
Environment & Development Studies
University of London
Coasts: The Front Line of Climate Change


2017

Dr. Mei-Po KwanDr. Mei-Po Kwan 
Geography and Geography 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Uncertain Geographic Context Problem: Implications
for Geographic and Health Research


2018

Dr. Dawn WrightDr. Dawn Wright  
Chief Scientist Environmental Systems 
Research Institute (ESRI) 
Swells, Soundings, and Sustainability 
in the Ocean


2019

WinklerPrins Picture

   Dr. Antoinetter WinklerPrins
   Program Director, Geography and Spatial Sciences, National Science Foundation
   Adjunct Professor, Environmental Sciences and Policy Program, John Hopkins University
  Global Urban Agriculture: Convergence of Theory and Practice


2021

Katharine Hayhoe picture

   Dr. Katharine Hayhoe
   Climate Scientist
   Department of Political Science and Director of Climate Center, Texas Tech University
  CEO and Founder of ATMOS Research
  Resolving the Added Value of High Resolution Modeling for Climate Extremes


2022

Emily Yeh Picture
    Dr. Emily Yeh
    Professor of Geography at University of Colorado Boulder 
    President, American Association of Geographers (2021-22)
   Pests, keystone species and hungry ghosts: Human-pika relations on the Tiberian Plateau


2023

Abigail Neely Picture    Dr. Abigail Neely
    Associate Professor of Geography at Dartmouth College 
    Affiliated with African and African-American Studies (AAAS) and the Graduate Program in
    Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society (EEES) Faculty Fellow, Society of Fellows
   Social Medicine from the South: Lessons for the Age of Global Health

Contact Us

227 Howe-Russell-Kniffen Geoscience Complex
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Phone: 225-578-5942
Fax: 225-578-4420
Office hours: M-F 08:00 - 16:30