Our faculty conduct research across the fields of geography. You can learn about our individual interests in the faculty directory, or check out our research groups and areas of expertise below.
Physical Geography
Biogeography
- Michael K. Steinberg: cultural ecology, biogeography, endangered species, remote sensing, and forest cover changes
- Matthew Therrell: biogeography, dendrochronology, paleoclimatology, environmental sustainability, water resources, southern Africa
Climatology
- Jason C. Senkbeil: atmospheric hazards, applied climatology
- Matthew Therrell: biogeography, dendrochronology, paleoclimatology, environmental sustainability, water resources, southern Africa
Geomorphology
- Sagy Cohen: geographic information systems, numerical modeling, geomorphology, global hydrology, soil-landscape evolution
- Lisa Davis: fluvial geomorphology, erosional and depositional geomorphology of rivers, paleoflood hydrology and flood science
- Emily Elliott: Coastal Geology, Geochronology
- Mary W. Pitts: natural hazards, environmental site assessments, water resources, watershed programs, water policy
- Douglas J. Sherman: coastal and aeolian geomorphology, sediment transportation, natural hazards
Forest Ecology and Management
- Justin Hart: applied forest ecology, silviculture, natural resources management, phytogeography
- Matthew Therrell: biogeography, dendrochronology, paleoclimatology, environmental sustainability, water resources, southern Africa
Human-Environment Interactions
Political Ecology
- Seth Appiah-Opoku: environmental and transportation planning, urban and regional planning, biodiversity conservation, environmental risk assessment, natural resource conservation, indigenous ecological knowledge, ecotourism, international development
- Matthew C. LaFevor: human-environment interactions, agriculture, watershed management, environmental history, Mexico, Caribbean
- Nicholas R. Magliocca: human-environment interactions, traffiking, GIS, modeling, food-energy-water
- Jared Margulies: political ecology, human-environment interactions, biodiversity conservation, illegal wildlife trade, political geography of the environment
- Wanyun Shao: human dimensional climate change, environmental risk perceptions, community resilience to environmental hazards, environmental policy, natural hazards, social impacts of flooding
Planning
- Seth Appiah-Opoku: environmental and transportation planning, urban and regional planning, biodiversity conservation, environmental risk assessment, natural resource conservation, indigenous ecological knowledge, ecotourism, international development
Transportation
- Seth Appiah-Opoku: environmental and transportation planning, urban and regional planning, biodiversity conservation, environmental risk assessment, natural resource conservation, indigenous ecological knowledge, ecotourism, international development
- Kevin M. Curtin: geographic information science, facilities location science, transportation, logistics, and network GIS, urban and environmental resource allocation, data modeling and database design
- Nicholas R. Magliocca: human-environment interactions, traffiking, GIS, modeling, food-energy-water
- Joe Weber: transport geography, national parks, urban geography, the American West
Geospatial Analysis
GIS
- Sagy Cohen: geographic information systems, numerical modeling, geomorphology, global hydrology, soil-landscape evolution
- Kevin M. Curtin: geographic information science, facilities location science, transportation, logistics, and network GIS, urban and environmental resource allocation, data modeling and database design
- Nicholas R. Magliocca: human-environment interactions, traffiking, GIS, modeling, food-energy-water
- Leah Mungai: Human-Environment Interaction, Sustainable Agriculture for Smallholder Farming Systems and Agricultural Extension Service, Land Cover and Land Use Chang, Sub-Sahara Africa
- Changzhen Wang: Geographic Information Science, Computational Social Science (Health, Transportation, Urban, etc.), Spatial Network Analysis and Modeling, Geovisualization, WebGIS
- Joe Weber: transport geography, national parks, urban geography, the American West
Remote Sensing
- Luoheng Han: remote sensing of water quality, modeling nutrients dynamics using GIS, hyperspectral remote sensing, quality management of inland and coastal waters
- Hongxing Liu: remote sensing; hyperspectral; LiDAR; radar; passive microwave, thermal, and altimetry; inland water quality remote sensing; lakes and rivers; satellite hydrography, watershed hydrologic modeling by assimilating multi-sensor remote sensing inputs, soil moisture, snow, and flood mapping, lake and river water level storage, riparian, coastal, and benthic habitat mapping
- Leah Mungai: Human-Environment Interaction, Sustainable Agriculture for Smallholder Farming Systems and Agricultural Extension Service, Land Cover and Land Use Chang, Sub-Sahara Africa
- Michael K. Steinberg: cultural ecology, biogeography, endangered species, remote sensing and forest cover changes
Modeling
- Sagy Cohen: geographic information systems, numerical modeling, geomorphology, global hydrology, soil-landscape evolution
- Kevin M. Curtin: geographic information science, facilities location science, transportation, logistics, and network GIS, urban and environmental resource allocation, data modeling and database design
- Luoheng Han: remote sensing of water quality, modeling nutrients dynamics using GIS, hyperspectral remote sensing, quality management of inland and coastal waters
- Nicholas R. Magliocca: human-environment interactions, traffiking, GIS, modeling, food-energy-water
Water
Water Science
- Lisa Davis: fluvial geomorphology, erosional and depositional geomorphology of rivers, paleoflood hydrology and flood science
- Luoheng Han: remote sensing of water quality; modeling nutrients dynamics using GIS; hyperspectral remote sensing; quality management of inland and coastal waters
- Hongxing Liu: remote sensing, hyperspectral, LiDAR, radar, passive microwave, thermal, and altimetry, inland water quality remote sensing, lakes and rivers, satellite hydrography; watershed hydrologic modeling by assimilating multi-sensor remote sensing inputs; soil moisture, snow, and flood mapping; lake and river water level storage; riparian, coastal, and benthic habitat mapping
- Matthew C. LaFevor: human-environment interactions, agriculture, watershed management, environmental history, Mexico, Caribbean
- Nicholas R. Magliocca: human-environment interactions, trafficking, GIS, modeling, food-energy-water
- Mary W. Pitts: natural hazards, environmental site assessments, water resources, watershed programs, water policy
Water Resources
- Bennett Bearden: water policy and law; environmental law; water policy analysis; interfaces among science, policy, and law; water diplomacy; alternative dispute resolution; interstate and intrastate water disputes; transboundary water conflict; watershed management; food-energy-water nexus; governmental relations and strategies; international water law and policy; international environmental law, litigation, and mediation
- Mary W. Pitts: natural hazards, environmental site assessments, water resources, watershed programs, water policy
- Matthew Therrell: biogeography, dendrochronology, paleoclimatology, environmental sustainability, water resources, southern Africa
Human Geography
- Seth Appiah-Opoku: environmental and transportation planning, urban and regional planning, biodiversity conservation, environmental risk assessment, natural resource conservation, indigenous ecological knowledge, ecotourism, international development
- Matthew C. LaFevor: human-environment interactions, agriculture, watershed management, environmental history, Mexico, Caribbean
- Nicholas R. Magliocca: human-environment interactions, trafficking, GIS, modeling, food-energy-water
- Jared Margulies: political ecology, human-environment interactions, biodiversity conservation, illegal wildlife trade, political geography of the environment
- Wanyun Shao: human dimensional climate change, environmental risk perceptions, community resilience to environmental hazards, environmental policy, natural hazards, social impacts of flooding