PhD in Geography

PhD in Geography, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Now accepting applications for Fall 2025. GRE requirement optional for 2025 Admissions

The priority deadline for funding consideration is February 15th, 2025

The PhD in Geography is our department’s core doctoral program reflecting the multi-disciplinary research and teaching expertise of our exceptional and award-winning faculty. Graduate students engage in coursework from within and across three areas of focus: Urban and Regional Analysis, Earth and Environmental Systems, and Geographic Information Science. A broad range of elective courses build upon shared training in the theoretical and methodological foundations of Geography, advanced research approaches (quantitative and/or qualitative) and spatial technologies and analysis. Independent research follows yielding a dissertation that advances knowledge in Geography and related disciplines.

Geography PhD student Lauren Burns presenting her research at the Earth Educators Rendezvous in Pasadena, CA in 202

Doctoral students in Geography at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte are members of a student-centered, well-resourced and collegial department comprised of social, physical and applied scientists. As many as half of our PhD students are supported through competitive Graduate Assistantships or Fellowships and our students are frequent recipients of the university’s most prestigious scholarships and national awards. Currently, the program’s Graduate Assistantships include a 9-month stipend of $22,500 plus tuition and health care support through a Graduate School GASP Award.

Our commitment to professional development translates into student involvement in faculty-led research and outreach teams; summer field work grants; financial support to present at national and international conferences; and preparation for teaching and research excellence both pre and post-graduation. Doctoral students in the program have established a tradition of engagement and leadership in the department, across campus, and within national and international professional associations such as the American Association of Geographers and its regional and specialty groups.

The program is structured to be completed within 4 years and our graduates find professional success across the occupational spectrum – as tenure-track professors, international researchers, community planners, analysts with local to national scale governments, post-doctoral fellows, applied scientists, spatial entrepreneurs, private sector consultants and more.

We are now accepting applications for Fall 2025 Admission. Applications received before February 15, 2025 will be given priority consideration for available assistantship and fellowship funding.

Alumni Dr. Paul McDaniel and students Tonderai Mushipe and Jaeho Ko connect at Race, Ethnicity and Place (REP) conference in Austin, TX, Fall 2018.

Please note that our program continues to waive the GRE requirement for applicants to Geography graduate programs. If applicants wish to submit GRE scores they may still do so and those will be considered in the review process.

Admission and requirements? Please refer to UNC Charlotte Graduate Catalog

Ready to apply? Please refer to UNC Charlotte Graduate School Admissions

Questions? Please contact program director Dr. Colleen Hammelman colleen.hammelman@charlotte.edu

Resources for PhD in Geography Program

Publications and Presentations by our PhD Geography Students and Recent Alumni (and their faculty co-authors)

Kpeebi, Y., & Evans, K. (2025). Understanding the spatial distribution of tiny house villages for the homeless and the contextual factors underlying their establishment in the United States. GeoJournal, 90(1), 20.
Chaulo, W., Nyanza, E. C., Asori, M., Thomas, D. S., & Mashuda, F. (2024). A retrospective study of congenital anomalies and associated risk factors among children admitted at a tertiary hospital in northwestern Tanzania. PLOS Global Public Health, 4(5), e0003177.
Asibey, O.M, Akakpo, E & Kpeebi, Y (2024). Revisiting the garden city concept and urban green infrastructure discourse in sustainable city planning in sub-Saharan Africa. Local Environment. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2024.2386966
Turner, D. and Hammelman, C. (2024) Balancing the scales: The potential for socioeconomic mobility through place-based food systems. Geographical Review. 1–17.
Asori, M., Musah, A., Odei, J., Morgan, A. K., & Zurikanen, I. (2023). Spatio-temporal assessment of hotspots and seasonally adjusted environmental risk factors of malaria prevalence. Applied Geography, 160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2023.103104
Hammelman, C., Salas, C. and Tornabene, S. (2023) Paving over taquerias to put up condos: Constructing urban imaginaries of migrant foodscapes via digital food narratives. Food, Culture, and Society. 27:4, 1126-1145. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528014.2023.2263703
Hammelman, C., and Turner, D. (2022) Adaptations and innovations: Analyzing food system organizations’ responses to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 12(1), 1-20.
Salas, C., Hammelman, C., and Tornabene, S. (2022) “Looking for true Mexican food in Charlotte”: Relying on Habitus to Invoke Authenticity. Gastronomica 22(2), 29-42.
PhD Student Yetimoni Kpeebi interviewed and quoted in “Austin Takes a Big Bet on Tiny Homes to Ease Homelessness – The New York Times (nytimes.com).” January 2024
Asori, M., K, Phimia., E, Dellmelle., D, SK, Thomas, (2024). Spatial Bayesian Modeling of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) Risk in the United States. (Paper Presentation, 2024), 2024 AAG Annual Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Burns, L., and C. E. Davenport (2024) Characterizing the Growth in Spatial Thinking Skills in Undergraduate Meteorology Students Across the Curriculum. Earth Educators Rendezvous, National Association of Geoscience Teachers, Philadelphia, PA, 15-19 July 2024. Abstract available at: https://serc.carleton.edu/earth_rendezvous/2024/program/talks/mondayA/283305.html
Decker, L., and C. E. Davenport (2024): Characterizing the Growth in Spatial Thinking Abilities in Meteorology Students Across the Curriculum. 33rd Conference on Education, American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, poster 326, Baltimore, MD, 28 January – 1 February 2024, Abstract available at: https://ams.confex.com/ams/104ANNUAL/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/439332
Greco, J. and C.E. Davenport (2024) Idealized Simulations of Supercell Thunderstorms Interactions Near Stationary Boundaries. American Meteorological Society 23rd Annual Student Conference, Baltimore, MD
Greco, J. and C.E. Davenport (2024) Idealized Simulations of Supercell Thunderstorms Interactions Near Stationary Boundaries. AMS 31st Conference on Severe Local Storms, Virginia Beach, VA.
J. Claire Schuch & Tonderai Mushipe. 2021. “Light Rail and Neighborhood Change: Comparative Perspectives of Residents, Local Media, and Other Stakeholders” Housing Policy Debate, https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2021.1949371
Elizabeth Delmelle, Isabelle Nilsson & Providence Adu. 2021. “Poverty Suburbanization, Job Accessibility, and Employment Outcomes” Social Inclusion, DOI:10.17645/si.v9i2.373
Brisa U. de Hernandez, J. Claire Schuch, Janni Sorensen & Heather A. Smith. 2021. “Sustaining CBPR Projects: Lessons Learned Developing Latina Community Groups.” Collaborations: A Journal of Community-based Research and Practice, DOI: http://doi.org/10.33596/coll.69
Paul H. Jung & Jun Song. 2021. “Multivariate Neighborhood Trajectory Analysis: An Exploration of the Functional Data Analysis Approach” Geographical Analysis, https://doi.org/10.1111/gean.12298
Yu Lan, Michael R. Desjardins, Alexander Hohl & Eric Delmelle. 2021. “Geovisualization of COVID-19: State of the Art and Opportunities” Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization, DOI: 10.3138/cart-2020-0027
Maryam Khabazi & Isabelle Nilsson. 2021. “Connecting people with jobs: Light rail’s impact on Commuting patterns” Travel Behaviour and Society, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2021.03.003
Claudio Owusu, Gary S.Silverman , David S.Vinson, Rajib Paul, Kathleen M. Baker & Eric M. Delmelle. 2021. “Predicting coliform presence in private wells as a function of well characteristics, parcel size and leachfield soil rating” Science of the Total Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143701
Daidai Shen, Jean-Claude Thill & Jiuwen Sun. 2021. “The determinants of city population in China” Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41685-020-00170-8
Minrui Zheng, Wenwu Tang, Akinwumi Ogundiran & Jianxin Yang. 2020. “Spatial Simulation Modeling of Settlement Distribution Driven by Random Forest: Consideration of Landscape Visibility” Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114748