News

U researchers found that 1,000 years ago, the Fremont used cultural burning to reduce the risk for large-scale wildfire activity in mountain environments.

Our very own Dr. McKenzie Skiles is participating in SnowEx NASA research. A number of geography graduate students are helping with SnowEx observations this season: Matt Olson, Joachim Meyer, Dillon Ragar, and Ted Zerivitz.

Two undergraduate students affiliated with the U’s Center for Natural & Technological Hazards (CNTH) received support through National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates awards in order to conduct research on hazards and disasters.

Geography Research Assistant Professor Jenn Shah's research shows new ways to look at stream health

Utah scientists get dirty to save threatened cactus

Seismic monitoring may improve early warnings for glacial lake outburst floods

GIS Major and student garden steward featured in @TheU

Spy Satellite Reveals Accelerated Pace of Himalayan Glacier Melt

U researchers hope to raise awareness of gender-based violence in Utah and beyond.

New research on COVID-19 by Geography faculty Dr. Alexander Hohl.

The Department of Geography stands against systemic racial injustice and the social and economic inequities that afflict people of color. We acknowledge that as part of a historically, predominantly white institution, department, and discipline, we have not done enough in the past to address racism and injustice. We are saddened and angered by pervasive racism in our society, and we recognize that it is our responsibility to learn and involve ourselves in issues of race and bias, so that we can better instruct our students in the context of today’s social environment and our diversifying world.

Utah’s air pollution varies over the year, and at times it is the worst in the United States. The geography traps winter inversions and summertime smog throughout the Salt Lake Valley, but underserved neighborhoods—and their schools—experience the highest concentrations. Previous research has shown pollution disparities using annual averages of PM 2.5 levels, the tiny breathable particles that can damage lungs just hours after exposure. Children are especially at risk and experience more than just health effects; exposure to PM 2.5 affects school attendance and academic success.

The Geography Department is excited to announce two new seed grants awarded to faculty in their research efforts aimed at understanding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: Professor Alex Hohl's grant, “A Geospatial Big Data Platform for Understanding Population Sentiment Toward the Spread of COVID-19 in the United States” is being aided by fellow geography department faculty Rich Medina and Neng Wan, along with Sociology Department professor Ming Wen.

Scientists from around the world have assessed the planet’s 78 mountain glacier–based water systems and, for the first time, ranked them in order of their importance to adjacent lowland communities, as well as their vulnerability to future environmental and socioeconomic changes.

At the Geography Club’s second Mapping Party, volunteers made hundreds of edits to OpenStreetMap. Our efforts contribute to the larger Missing Maps campaign, which is supported by organizations such as the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. Missing Maps’ main objective is to “map the most vulnerable places in the developing world, in order that international and local NGOs and individuals can use the maps and data to better respond to crises affecting the areas.”

I am an atmospheric scientist with three degrees in meteorology. However my tenured home at the University of Georgia is the Department of Geography. Like many of you reading this, I had a rather narrow understanding of geography when I left NASA to join the faculty at the university. Over the years, I have certainly heard people describe geography as maps, capitals, rivers, and so forth. While these things are definitely a part of the discipline, there is far more complexity and rigor than memorization of facts or your recollections of the elementary Geography Bee.