Research at The University of Alabama in regional, urban and environmental planning includes exploring problems related to housing, conflicting land uses, ecotourism, environmental management, hazards, transportation planning, economic development in rural and urban areas, regional planning, exclusionary zoning, and third world planning issues.
Recent research projects have focused on the assessment and mediation of environmental impacts, health and nutrition in the developing world, and regional economic development.
Academic Programs
Students enrolled in our undergraduate programs can choose environment and society as an area of concentration, meaning that they will complete at least 12 hours of coursework in urban, regional, and environmental planning; regional geography; and cultural geography.
Students enrolled in our graduate program can also choose to concentrate in environment and society. The concentration requires 12 hours of coursework from a list of designated courses.
This area of concentration addresses the need for training in urban, regional, and environmental analysis and planning; location theory; and environmental impact assessment. Students are exposed to current environmental issues and policies.
Affiliated Faculty
The following faculty members conduct research and teach courses in environment and society:
| Name | Areas of Expertise |
|---|---|
| Seth Appiah-Opoku | environmental and transportation planning, urban and regional planning, biodiversity conservation, environmental risk assessment, indigenous ecological knowledge, ecotourism, international development |
| Matthew LaFevor | human-environment interactions, agriculture, watershed management, environmental history sustainability |
| Nicholas Magliocca | human-environment interactions, trafficking, food-energy-water |
| Jared Margulies | political ecology, environmental inequalities, human-nature relationships, human-wildlife conflict, conservation |
| Mary Pitts | natural hazards, environmental site assessments, water resources, watershed programs, water policy |
| Wanyun Shao | human dimensional climate change, environmental risk perceptions, community resilience, environmental policy, natural hazards, social impacts of flooding |
| Michael K. Steinberg | cultural ecology, biogeography, endangered species, remote sensing, and forest cover changes |
| Matthew Therrell | biogeography, dendrochronology, paleoclimatology, environmental sustainability, water resources |
| Joe Weber | transport geography, national parks, urban geography, the American West |