Arctic Researchers Partner with Indigenous Communities
Professor Vera Kuklina will lead a team of researchers in an investigation of the shifting Arctic landscape’s impact on Indigenous peoples and local communities
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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"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
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 scholarship.
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.