Tom Perreault, professor and chair of geography and the environment, was awarded the 2022 Carl O. Sauer Distinguished Scholarship Award by the Conference of Latin American Geography. The award is given in recognition for a corpus of important published work or other significant contribution towards Latin American geography. Sauer Distinguished Scholars are leading authorities in specific research topics and geographic areas of Latin America, as well as individuals whose research has made significant advancements towards fostering understanding of Latin America to a broader audience.

"Tom’s nominators highlight his consistent publication of high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles in leading geography journals since the late 1990s on mining and water governance and indigenous resource uses and indigenous identity in the Andes, in addition to several book chapters in multi- disciplinary books. Notable is that this corpus not only contributes to Latin American geography, but also to geographical theories relating to materiality, identity, governance, collective action, and political ecology," says Catherine Nolin, who presented the award.