Research
Research in the Department of Geography 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 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.
Kean McDermott
MA '17
"In my time here, the professors' doors have always been open. ... I've always felt that I had the support I need to pursue the research that I'd like to pursue."
Department Initiatives and Centers
Geographers in the Field
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Researchers identifying grasses during a fieldwork trip to Mongolia.
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GW Geography students visit the Arctic Circle on a fieldwork trip to Alaska.
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Geography students attended a two-week geography course in Botswana, where they lived with the San Bushman in Dekar and digitally mapped the community.
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Geography students conduct fieldwork in the Arctic as part of the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) project.
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Elizabeth Chacko led a group of geography students to visit the United Nations, pictured here with the UN's sustainability goals.
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GW students on a research trip to Siberia, where they studied mountain permafrost and glacial landscapes.
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Accra, Ghana, is at the center of Ryan Engstrom’s work using high-spatial resolution satellite data to map developing cities.
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Drone images of vegetation restoration projects in Inner Mongolia, utilizing the "Straw checkerboard" technique. Photo credit: Lian Jie
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Colleagues at the Naiman Desertification Research Station in China collecting data on photosynthesis.
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Geography researchers visited the Gobi Desert on a fieldwork trip to China, including this section of the Urad Rear Banner in Bayannur, Inner Mongolia.
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Geography students frequently conduct trips to local parks and watersheds to complete research projects.
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Ginger Allington during a research trip to Hustai National Park, Mongolia.

GW Geography Alumna Named George J. Mitchell Scholar
Former geography major Maura Welch, B.A. ’13, plans to study comparative social change at Ireland’s Trinity College Dublin after receiving a prestigious scholarship for American students to pursue graduate studies.
Researchers Follow Social Distancing’s Path
Associate Professor of Geography Michael Mann is using GPS data to create a block-by-block map of the Washington, D.C., region, pinpointing social distancing behavior. Once completed, the model will be able to detect patterns by comparing real-time information to social distancing metrics.

Radical warming in Siberia leaves millions on unstable ground
Geography Professor Dmitry (Dima) Streletskiy quoted in Washington Post article on climate change in Siberia.
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