Research

Research in the Department of Geography and Environment spans a range of topics across our core focus areas. From South Asia to South America to the Middle East, geography faculty are widely published experts in regions across the world. Faculty are also dedicated mentors to students, helping them pursue awards, present at research conferences and gain the skills they need to pursue competitive careers.

Undergraduates engage in independently funded projects under faculty guidance and can travel abroad for short-term research classes around the globe. Graduate students work closely with faculty on grant-funded projects and as research assistants in the topic areas that interest them. Recent student research projects have examined the role of adult soccer leagues in immigrant communities, the impact of wildfires in the West, climate change impacts on the Arctic, reprecincting in Texas and protecting mangrove trees in Costa Rica. On campus, students also take advantage of the department’s state-of-the-art Spatial Analysis Lab and other research centers.


Research Expertise Areas

The Department of Geography and Environment represents a vast diversity of research expertise across the main three subfields of the discipline: physical, human and techniques. The department spans both the natural and social sciences and is engaged in research and teaching that addresses the world’s most critical issues, in six areas of notable strength. Collectively, these research areas holistically address a more sustainable and just future using qualitative and quantitative analytical approaches.

Many of these six areas are intersectional and interconnected: work on urban stormwater also addresses issues of sustainability; research on poverty integrates theory and geospatial application; and study of climate change also analyzes its impact on urban infrastructure.

 

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Stine Omdahl Petersen

"The GW Geography department is collegial, supportive and inclusive. The education I’ve received has provided me the skills to advance my career, and I will forever be grateful to the department and its people."

Stine Omdahl Petersen
BS '23, Geography and Biology


Department Initiatives and Centers

 


Geographers in the Field


Geography Research in Action

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Humans Ignite Wildfire Forecasts

Assistant Professor of Geography Michael Mann found that people are at least as dangerous as nature when it comes to California’s devastating blazes.