As you may know, eminent regional scientist Roger Stough died in September 2019. He was important to the Western Regional Science Association (WRSA) for many reasons. He was a long-time editor of our journal the Annals of Regional Science, a Fellow of the WRSA and served as President of the WRSA in 2002. We invite you to submit a paper to be considered for inclusion in one of our special sessions honoring Roger Stough.  

To identify your paper for consideration for the special sessions, please add the following line to your title page “Paper for consideration to be included in the Special Sessions honoring Roger Stough at the WRSA-PRSCO meetings March 18-21, 2020.”

The WRSA website for submission is now open (www.wrsaonline.org). Short abstracts, as well as full papers (also in draft format), will be accepted for the Special Session. Full papers benefit from the traditional WRSA 45-minute per paper time slot. Submissions with abstracts only will be allocated a shorter time block. The submission deadline is December 15, 2019, for full-length original papers or abstracts.

Please submit your paper directly to the WRSA website as an individual paper. Also email a second copy of your papers and abstracts to the session organizers, Janet Kohlhase (jkohlhase@uh.edu) and Haifeng Qian (haifeng-qian@uiowa.edu). Please put “WRSA Roger Stough special sessions” in the subject line of your email. If you have already submitted your paper or abstract through the WRSA online portal, please email a copy to the organizers noting your interest.

Selected papers from these sessions may be invited for publication in a special issue of the Annals of Regional Science, following standard review/revision procedures. Details about the special issue honoring Roger Stough will be forthcoming.

The abstracts/papers will be reviewed by the Organizing Committee and the notification of acceptance will be distributed by January 20, 2020.

Organizing committee:
For more information or questions please contact: Janet Kohlhase at the University of Houston (jkohlhase@uh.edu) or Haifeng Qian at the University of Iowa (haifeng-qian@uiowa.edu).

Areas of Interest
We are looking for academic papers that honor the work of Roger Stough. Authors may have ties with Roger or not. Former-students, co-authors, and colleagues are especially encouraged to participate. Topics are wide open in regional science, but as a guide consider that his research interests included entrepreneurship and innovation, science and technology policy, regional economic development, regional economic modeling, transport policy, and leadership and institutions.

As part of the 26th Pacific Conference of the RSAI, to be held jointly with the 59th Annual Meeting of the WRSA in Waikiki, Hawaii from March 18 to 21, 2020, Nectar clusters 5 and 6 are organizing a Special Session on “Regional Science and Tourism”. 
Short abstracts, as well as full papers (also in draft format), will be accepted for the Special Session. Full papers benefit from the traditional WRSA 45-minute per paper time slot. The submission deadline is November 15, 2019, for full-length original papers (not previously published). 
During your submission, do not forget to add that your paper is submitted for the Nectar Special Session on Regional Science and Tourism. Please, also send a copy of the submission to Juan Carlos Martin, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, jcarlos.martin@ulpgc.es and Luca Zamparini, University of Salento, luca.zamparini@unisalento.it.
The abstracts/papers will be reviewed by the Organizing Committee and the notification of paper acceptance will be distributed by December 20, 2019.

Selected full papers will be invited for publication in a special issue of the Regional Science Policy & Practice Journal, following standard review/revision procedures. (https://rsaiconnect.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17577802).

For details, please click here.

The 2020 meeting in Hawaii will have one Professional Development session specially targeted to the graduate students & the early-career faculty.

• Graduate students will learn about:
  • Where to find information to apply for faculty and post-doctoral positions
  • What and what not to do during a job interview
  • How to discuss the terms of a work contract
• Early career faculty will learn about:
  • Applying for grants
  • Building a research team and mentoring students
  • Keeping good teaching evaluations

We are open to the possibility of having another session dedicated to rehearsing job talks and practicing mock job interviews as well as advice about improving CV and application letter. If you are interested in these activities, please contact Sandy Dall’erba (dallerba@illinois.edu) by January 5^th.

In addition, the students will be able to participate in a Graduate Student Round Table Meeting designed to foster their national and international network and launch the WRSA student association.

The Summer 2019 WRSA Newsletter is here and it’s got everything you need to know about our 59th annual meeting (a joint meeting with the 26th Pacific Regional Science Conference (PRSCO) of the RSAI) in Waikiki of Hawaii, March 2020! Take a look inside for paper submission and meeting registration instructions, as well as hotel reservation and Hawaii travel details.

Along with preliminary meeting information, the Newsletter contains a full rundown on our 58th Annual Meeting this past February in Napa, CA, including meeting highlights, awards, and a few photos.

Enjoy!

For our 59th annual meeting, we’re heading to Waikiki of Hawaii for our joint meeting with the 26th Pacific Regional Science Conference (PRSCO) of the RSAI. 
Our meeting dates are March 18-21, 2020, with opening plenary and reception scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday (Mar. 18), followed by three full days of sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (Mar. 19-21).

Short abstracts, as well as full papers (draft format acceptable), will be accepted for this conference. Full papers benefit from the traditional WRSA 45-minute per paper time slot, while abstracts will be allocated shorter presentation times. All submissions will be reviewed and will be assigned a discussant on the program. All presenters are expected to discuss a paper and/or chair a session.

Our meeting hotel is the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki, Hawaii, which has the widest stretch of beach in Waikiki. Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki features 5 high-rise towers along with the beautiful Waikiki beach, 20 restaurants and lounges, plus a saltwater lagoon, 5 pools and a full-service spa. Our negotiated room rate is $229/night (plus taxes and fees) and “optional” resort fee will be optional that includes guest internet access (up to 2 devices), Hawaiian cultural activities, outdoor morning exercises, movies at Sundown, and etc. Parking is available with extra charges. See the “Hotel Information” link to the left for room reservation instructions.

Full meeting information will be available in the upcoming Spring/Summer Newsletter (be sure to renew your membership in order to receive!) and on the website. Check back in the weeks to come! 
The deadline for submission of full papers and abstracts is November 15, 2019!

The final program for our upcoming annual meeting in Napa is now available. 
This is the updated final version, please read carefully to check the changes made.
Your assignments and session schedule may have changed.

Please click here to view the final program. 

The first version of the program for our upcoming meeting in Pasadena is now available here! 

This means the time to register for the meeting and book your hotel room is NOW. Full details are available on the website! Remember the deadline for hotel reservations and pre-registration is January 11!

What a Surprise! It’s the traditional extension of the paper submission deadline for our annual meeting in Napa Valley, California, next February 10-13. As in past years, we will accept submissions until mid-November. This year’s FINAL deadline will be November 18. Be sure to get your paper submitted before then!

Ready to submit? There’s no reason to wait until the last minute. Simply visit the WRSA website and use the Login/Register link at the left to upload your paper and register for the meeting.

I’m also still looking for several students to assist with meeting registration in Pasadena. In exchange for 8-10 hours of volunteering at the registration desk, students will receive a complete rebate of their preregistration fees (worth $150, to be processed as a refund following the meeting).