
YES!
Young and Early career Scholars
An initiative of the IGU Commission on Gender and Geography

YES!
COMMITTEE CHAIRS & STEERING GROUP
Elisabeth Militz
Co-Chair
I am a feminist geographer with a focus on global intimate relations and digital transformations. My research combines geographical theories of the body, emotions and affect, feminist technoscience and digital and affective research methods with empirical fieldwork in Eurasian borderlands. From an intersectional research perspective, I seek to understand how spaces of intimacy, everyday experiences of identity politics, and digital technologies are intertwined. I studied in Germany and the United States and completed my PhD in Geography at the University of Zurich in 2017. Since the fall of 2022, I have been an assistant professor of social and digital geographies at the University of Innsbruck. I have learned from feminist scholars in different places worldwide, how to effect change through collaborative and joyful research practices. Through the welcoming and inspiring spaces created by feminist geography collectives (e.g. at the University of Bern, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Guelph), I have found my academic home in feminist geography. I look forward to fostering the transnational feminist connections of YES! and contributing to a caring network of feminist early-career scholars from all regions of the world.
Senior Writing Fellow
Centre for Writing and Communication
Maria Anne Fitzgerald
Co-Chair
I am a feminist geographer with a keen interest in mapping the way identity and space co-constitute the social world of children/young people. The recurrent themes I draw on in my work are youth/young people, identities, gender, liminality, belongingness and the familial/social environment. As a feminist scholar, I focus on visibilising the experiences of children/young people across multiple spatial scales and uncovering power relations between children/young people and the adult world. I am happy to be connected to a transnational network of young and early feminist scholars through YES! As a Steering Committee Member, I look forward to reciprocating care in greater measure than I've received, to create inclusive, safe and supportive spaces for early-career scholars & feminist geographers, especially from the Global South.
Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF)
mamoreno@untref.edu.ar
Magdalena Moreno
Steering Committee Member
I am a feminist geographer born in Buenos Aires. My doctoral thesis focused on The spatial configuration of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Argentina, 2008-2018 (UAB cum laude). I developed lines of research on two interlocked areas : Geographies of gender and sexualities and sexual education. In the former, I delved into spatial contributions within gender and queer theory which led me to recover the itinerary of the Geographies of gender and sexualities in Europe and Latin America. Secondly, my focus was anchored on establishing dialogue between Geography in higher education and comprehensive sexual education. My first book Geography and Comprehensive Sexual Education. Contributions to the teaching of contemporary spaces, was selected by the Department of CSE of Buenos Aires which printed and distributed 27,000 copies. I created the Interactive and collaborative world Map of Geographies of sexualities, a digital platform that systematizes the scientific productions, academic events and political initiatives on Geographies of gender and sexualities around the world. My latest contributions to the field were the initiative and leadership of the research group Geography, Gender and Sexualities and the creation and coordination of the Higher Diploma in Geography and Gender and Sexualities Perspective, both founded at (UNTref).
School of Geography, Environment Earth Sciences
Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington
mariateresa.bragabizarria@vuw.ac.nz
Maria Teresa Braga Bizarria
Steering Committee Member
As a feminist geographer and scholar-artivist, my research focuses on the multiscalarity of (agri)cultural practices and their potential as spaces for intersectional justice. Working with embodied and posthuman frameworks, the politics of bodies is the backbone of my academic and activist projects. I am enthusiastic about exploring the relationships between human and more-than-human agents, and how material agency can inform the operation of oppressive dynamics, as well as mediate and inspire spatialised practices of care from the everyday and local scales. I engage with participatory and creative methods and their potential to propose decolonial and feminist practices that respond to a more than human ethics of care. As a member of YES! I am pleased to support the aims of the collective to be a supportive, safe and
inspiring platform for students and early career professionals in our network.
PAST CO-CHAIRS
Kamalini Ramdas
Co-Chair
I am a senior lecturer with the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore (NUS). I am interested in the spatialities and intersectionality of gender, sexuality and 'race'. Specific areas of interest for me include feminist care ethics, critical geographies of familyhood and community, and queer politics. As a feminist geographer I believe that the three pillars of research, teaching and activism are key to positive change-making. I have volunteered with non-governmental groups in Singapore such as the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) and Action for AIDS (AFA). I am currently volunteering with Sayoni, a local LBTQ group on a project that documents gender and sexuality based violence and discrimination in Singapore. I am very excited to be a part of YES!. I hope that together we can collaborate and work together to serve the needs of early career feminist scholars and researchers based in the Global North and South.
Caroline Faria
Co-Chair
I am a feminist geographer in the Department of Geography and the Environment at UT Austin. I draw on feminist, critical race, and postcolonial perspectives to interrogate contemporary workings of nationalism and cosmopolitanism. My current research examines the political-economies of the beauty industry in the Gulf-East African region. I've benefited greatly from the friends and colleagues I've made through the IGU Gender Commission, the Africa Specialty Group and the Geographic Perspectives on Women Speciality group and share their committment to supporting a more diverse discipline of geography.
School of Environment
University of Auckland
Ann E. Bartos
Co-Chair
My research interests focus on questions of power and agency through the lens of feminist political geography and feminist care ethics. Empirically, this has inspired my research on youth, gender, food, the body, and violence. I received my MA and PhD in Geography from the University of Washington and am currently a Lecturer in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland. As a North American living far from home, while simultaneously building a career and a family, I highly value support networks embodying a commitment to feminist praxis. I hope that YES! can foster the support, care and collegial environment necessary to manage the challenges that are unique to early career researchers.
PAST STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Department of Gender Studies
Queen’s University (Ontario)
Laura Pascoe
Steering Committee Member
I am a feminist geographer with a Masters in Community Development and a PhD in Geography. My works covers issues relating to gender, masculinities, sexualities, reproductive justice, and community engagement and mobilization, with a particular focus on Eastern and Southern Africa where I have spent many years living and working. My current research examines the ways in which gender-power dynamics and shame operate in negotiations of prevention and pleasure in the intimate spaces of heterosex. I currently run my own consulting business, Bedroom Feminist, undertaking research, project management, curricula development, and policy advocacy for universities and nongovernmental organisations. I am also a labour and childbirth doula as well as the Managing Editor for the Journal of Critical Race Inquiry based out of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, where I am currently based. I am thrilled to be part of YES! as well as AAG's GPOW's Board, and to feed my feminist geographer soul in a group of such supportive colleagues. I am excited to work together to support early career feminist geographers (such as myself!) excel in this exciting and ever-changing field.
School of Geosciences
University of South Florida
Milena Janiec
Steering Committee Member
My research includes topics in human and physical geography; specifically, globalization, risk perceptions of environmental and technological hazards, as well as urban – rural development. My past research focused on Japan and included the impacts of migration on the changing sociocultural fabric of cities and farms, and preparing for and coping with disasters among migrant communities. Overall, within human geography, my research contributed to theoretical and empirical debates on gendered and ethnic exclusion and inclusion of migrants in national and local spaces. I earned my doctoral degree in Geography and Environmental Science and Policy in the School of Geosciences at University of South Florida. Subsequently, I was hired by the United States Geological Survey. Currently, I am building on my experience of conducting research on urbanization and environmental issues, and working on a project related to land use planning, natural hazards, and community resilience. Partaking in the IGU Gender Commission’s activities gives me an opportunity to communicate with scholars located across international context. I enjoy the camaraderie and critical discussions among researchers who seek inclusivity within the discipline.