We believe what makes our department special is our dedicated faculty and staff who strive to create a supportive, caring, and dynamic learning environment. Our world-class faculty members are frequently recognized with awards and honors. Our research has had major policy impacts, and we are often quoted in the press and cited for our groundbreaking research.

Waleed Abdalati
Professor of Geography • Remote Sensing of Earth’s Ice Cover • Executive Director of CIRES • Ph.D. University of Colorado at Boulder, 1996
Physical Geography

Jennifer Balch
Associate Professor of Geography • Fire ecology; Land use/landcover change; Global change ecology; Tropical forest ecology • Director, Earth Lab • Fellow of CIRES • Ph.D. Yale University, 2008
Physical Geography

Holly Barnard
Associate Professor of Geography • Fellow of INSTAAR • Faculty of Hydrologic Sciences • Ecohydrology; Stable Isotope Geochemistry; Forest Hydrology; Tree Physiology • Ph.D. Oregon State University, 2009
Physical Geography

Peter Blanken
Professor of Geography • Climatology; Biometeorology • Faculty of Hydrologic Sciences • Ph.D. University of British Columbia, 1997
Physical Geography

Joe Bryan
Associate Professor of Geography • Indigenous Politics in the Americas; Human Rights; and Critical Cartography. • Ph.D. University of California Berkeley, 2007
Human Geography

Guofeng Cao
Assistant Professor of Geography • GIScience, GeoAI, geostatistics/spatial statistics, and remote sensing • PhD University of California Santa Barbara 2011
GIS

Jennifer Fluri
Professor of Geography • Feminist political geography; conflict security and development; South/Southwest Asia • Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, 2005
Human Geography

Mara Goldman
Associate Professor of Geography • Political Ecology; Science and Technology Studies; indigenous knowledge; Nature-Society Relations • Faculty Research Associate of IBS • Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2006
Human Geography • Environment-Society

Morteza Karimzadeh
Assistant Professor of Geography • Affiliate Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Information Science • spatial data science • visual analytics • geographic information retrieval • machine learning • geovisualization • PhD Penn State, 2018
GIS

Stefan Leyk
Professor of Geography • GIScience, uncertainty modeling, small area estimation, cartographic pattern recognition • Ph.D. University of Zurich / Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape, 2005
GIS

Katherine Lininger
Assistant Professor of Geography • fluvial geomorphology; ecogeomorphology; carbon cycle; water resources management; coupled natural-human systems • PhD in Earth Sciences, Colorado State University
Physical Geography

Noah Molotch
Associate Professor of Geography • Surface Water and Snow Hydrology; Remote Sensing; Ecohydrology • Fellow of INSTAAR • Faculty of Hydrologic Sciences • Ph.D. The University of Arizona, 2004
Physical Geography

John O'Loughlin
Professor of Geography • Political; Former Soviet Union; Post Communist Societies; Nationalism • Faculty Research Associate of IBS • Arts and Sciences College Professor of Distinction • Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, 1973
Human Geography

Timothy Oakes
Professor of Geography • Cultural Politics; Economic and Social Change; China • Director of CAS • Ph.D. University of Washington, 1995
Human Geography

A. Marie Ranjbar
Assistant Professor of Geography • Feminist political geography • Critical human rights • Theories of justice • Decolonial and postcolonial feminist theory • PhD Pennsylvania State University, 2017
Human Geography

Colleen Reid
Assistant Professor of Geography • Climate change and human health; Environmental and social epidemiology; Spatial exposure assessment • Faculty Research Associate of IBS • Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 2014
Human Geography • Environment-Society

Fernando Riosmena
Associate Professor of Geography • International migration; population geography; social demography, Latin America • Faculty of IBS • Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, 2005
Human Geography

Mark Serreze
Distinguished Professor of Geography • Arctic climate; global implications; and climate warming in the Arctic • Director of NSIDC • Fellow of CIRES • Arts and Sciences College Professor of Distinction • Ph.D. University of Colorado at Boulder, 1989
Physical Geography

Seth Spielman
Chief data strategy and analytics officer to the Office of Data Analytics and the Finance and Business Strategy (FBS) division • Associate Professor of Geography • Urban Geography, Medical Geography, Spatial Statistics, GIScience • Affiliate of IBS • Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo, 2008
Human Geography • GIS

William (Riebsame) Travis
Associate Professor of Geography • Natural hazards, risk, climate change, decision-making • Earth Lab Deputy Director Project Risk Principal Investigator • Ph.D. Clark University, 1981
Human Geography • Environment-Society

Yaffa Truelove
Assistant Professor of Geography • Urban and Feminist Political Ecology of Water • India • Southern Urbanism • Urban Infrastructure • Water Governance • Nature-Society Relations • Faculty of International Affairs • PhD University of Cambridge, 2015
Human Geography • Environment-Society

Emily Yeh
Department Chair • Professor of Geography • Nature/society geography; political ecology; cultural politics; development; Tibet; China • Associate Faculty of CAS • Affiliate faculty member of Ethnic Studies, the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies • Affiliate faculty member of Women & Gender Studies • Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 2003
Human Geography • Environment-Society