Dr. Michael Ewers

I am a human geographer and interdisciplinary social scientist who studies the geographic dimensions of migration, work, and sustainability. My research focuses on three areas: 1) migration and globalization, 2) labor market outcomes and worker welfare, and 3) human capital and sustainable economic development. I seek to understand who moves where and why in a global context, how individuals and groups experience and navigate work differently across space, and how places create human and social capital for sustainable development. A methodological specialty in quantitative survey research, alongside Arabic-English mixed-methods fieldwork, is the common basis for much of my work.

My interest in the Middle East began while serving as an Arabic linguist in the US Marine Corps. After four years, I emerged with a keen interest in the global and local complexities shaping the region’s human geography. I have since studied migration and labor market dynamics in the oil-rich Gulf Arab states of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and the global cities of Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. Prior to joining UNC Charlotte in 2019, I was a Research Associate Professor and Senior Policy Analyst at Qatar University’s Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI), an academic survey center established in association with the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, and an Assistant Professor of Geography at Texas A&M University.

At UNC Charlotte, I have extended this research into the US context, examining how social and political attitudes shape migration decision-making and locational preferences (Ewers & Shockley 2023), the emergence of new geographies of inequality with the transition to remote work (Ewers & Kangmennaang 2023), and the human and social capital dynamics of energy transition in the US (Brannstrom, Ewers & Schwarz 2022; Ewers, Brannstrom & Conrecode 2025). I also lead community-engaged research, including the Gambrell Faculty Fellowship project “Charlotte Atlas of Climate Inequality and Community Resilience” (with T. Shull, M. Ranis, and A. Bennett), published in 2024.

My teaching and research interests are integrally linked. I have developed undergraduate courses on Global Geography, the Global Economy, World Urbanization, Renewable Energy, and the Middle East, as well as a graduate course on Geographic Theory and Practice.

I serve as Graduate Program Director for the Geography MA program in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Geographical Sciences, and as Core Faculty in the Public Policy Program. I chair the Research Committee of the Ignite Center in Migration and Diaspora Studies. I also serve as a reviewer and panelist for national research funders, including the National Science Foundation (HEGS DDRI panel, 2026) and the U.S. Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative (2024), and have completed commissioned research for the World Bank.

Education

PhD (2010) Geography, The Ohio State University

MA (2005) Geography, The Ohio State University

Recent Publications

Contact Me

309 McEniry
mewers@charlotte.edu