Faculty Articles
Message from the Chair Fall 2022
The fall began with an excitement and energy reminiscent of semesters prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Geography welcomed two new faculty members, Assistant Professor Melisa Diaz and Associate Professor Jill Harrison . Dr. Diaz’s research interests include Geochemistry and Biochemistry of the cryosphere and urban environments. She...
COP27: Power and (in)justice in global climate governance
Geography PhD student Emma Loizeaux and professor Emily Yeh (photo R.) both attended the UNFCCC COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022 as part of a collaborative event ethnography project on “Power and (in)justice in global climate governance.” Emma was there during Week 1 and Emily during Week...
Jill Harrison: Research Overview
Jill Harrison ’s research helps identify the cultural relations and political economic processes that disproportionately situate members of racially marginalized, Indigenous, and working-class communities in dangerous spaces and precarious conditions that contribute to inequalities in life opportunity, illness, and death. She also identifies ways the state, social movements, and other...
Cryosphere 2022 International Symposium
Mark Serreze attended the "Cryosphere 2022 International Symposium in Ice, Snow and Water in a Warming World", and gave a keynote talk on "The Future of Arctic Sea Ice". The symposium, held in Reykjavik Iceland from August 16-22, was attended by hundreds of cryospheric scientists and students from around the...
Taking Stock of Mountain Snowpack and the Western Drought
Noah Molotch , associate professor of Geography, and INSTAAR hydrologist with a joint appointment at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and CU-Boulder colleague Leanne Lestak have been using 20 years of satellite data of snow-covered area, along with the SNOTEL data, to generate close to real-time estimates of snow water equivalent...
Cartography - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Sarah Kelly , GISP, Assistant Teaching Professor in Geography gave a talk at GIS in the Rockies at the University of Denver, in September 2022 to a packed room of GIS professionals. GIS in the Rockies is a geospatial information and technology conference that offers opportunities for industry professionals to...
Tim Oakes: Leading Multiple Workshops, Research Grants and Public Outreach
Tim Oakes , Professor of Geography, is interim faculty director at the Center for Asian Studies which was awarded a $2.2 million grant from the US Department of Education’s Title VI program. He told 9News : “One of the missions of CAS is to make Asia as accessible as possible...
A “Revolution” in Environmental Data Science
New national center at CU Boulder will tackle pressing socio-environmental challenges with big data analytics, more The National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded a major new data science and diversity effort at Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), a research institute at CU Boulder—the Environmental Data Science Innovation...
Student Updates
Phurwa Gurung Awarded Social Science Research Council's International Dissertation Research Fellowship
A high-altitude seasonal encampment for caterpillar fungus harvest in Dolpo, Nepal. Phurwa D Gurung , PhD Candidate in Geography, received the competitive Social Science Research Council's International Dissertation Research Fellowship (SSRC IDRF) funded by the Mellon Foundation. Phurwa was selected from a total of 870 applicants from graduate students at...
Mike Tran: Participating in Multiple Research Projects
My name is Mike Tran and I am currently a senior double-majoring in Geography (General Track) and International Affairs. This semester I am studying Arabic abroad under the Boren Scholarship. I plan on returning in the spring to finish my last semester at CU. I started my time at CU...
Welcome to Our Fall 2022 Graduate Students
Please join us in welcoming our incoming graduates for Fall 2022! Back row: Millie Spenser, Priscilla (Pris) Corbett, Drolma Gadou, Briana Prado, Emma Barrett, Denise Mondragon, Mia Murray, Taylor O’Brien, Nathan Korinek, Ethan Carr; Middle row: Alaric Kothapally, Michele Lissoni, Aja Procita, Nic Tarasewicz, Patrick (Pat) Saylor, Isaiah Lyons-Galante; Front...
Sarah Posner & John O'Loughlin: East Africa Climate Change
In 2008 and 2009, a severe drought swept through much of Kenya and Tanzania. Nomadic herders, or pastoralists, such as the Maasai people in Tanzania, pushed south in search of greener expanses, bringing tens of thousands of cattle with them. What happened next was largely unprecedented: Locals from a region...
Alumni Updates
Alex Posen: ESRI Solutions Engineer in Imagery and Remote Sensing
Alex Posen During my undergrad in the geography department, I found myself particularly drawn to the GIS and remote sensing classes. After I graduated in the spring of 2021 with a BA in Geography and the GIS concentration, I was eager to gain industry experience and continue to build upon...
Tim Watts: Working for Maxar
A high off-nadir image of the Fitz Roy Massif in Patagonia, Argentina. Taken by World View 3. My Name is Tim Watts, I graduated in December of 2021 with a B.A. in Geography. I am half Coriscan (a French Island) and half American, from Colorado. My time at CU challenged...
Julie Crea Dunbar, BA 1993
After graduating from CU in 1993, I went on to earn my MFA in writing from Naropa University. I've worked for ABC-CLIO, a social studies publisher, since 2004. As a media editor for the company's Geography website, I acquired all sorts of fun things from images to maps to video...
Lucy Haggard, BA 2020
After graduating in May 2020 (class of COVID-19, woohoo! Just kidding...) it took me a while to figure out work. But two years later, I’m now in the second job where I’ve used my Geography skills in some form. For almost a year I worked at a local news outlet,...
Nick Lewis, MA 2018
Remote Sensing instruments and maps After completing my MA in Geography with Mark Serreze, I went on to teach Physical Geography and ultimately Remote Sensing & Advanced Remote Sensing at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 2018-2021. Since my retirement from the Army in 2021, my family...
David Kimmett, MA 1994
I've worked as a geography teacher in Denver Public Schools, a GIS Analyst with Fremont County CO, a development planner with a solar engineering & design firm in Boulder, and now am currently a Planner II with the Town of Lyons, CO. Lotsa geography afoot, certainly! My CU Boulder undergrad...
Donor Support
Thank You! The Department of Geography is grateful to its alumni and friends for their financial support over the years. Our donors have had a big impact, making a difference not only to the Department as a whole, but to the lives of many individual students. As we strive for...