News

For years Norm Schul, first chair of UNC Charlotte’s Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, has wanted to commission a visually appealing globe for the department that would bring distinction and serve as a teaching tool. Thanks to his and his wife Marianne’s perseverance and generosity, the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences globe became […]

Dr. Michelle Zuñiga discusses the history and negative implications of the interstate system and Dr. Brian Magi talks about the impact of electric vehicles have on reducing emissions and easing the impacts of climate change. Video and article here.

The Geography and Earth Sciences department is delighted to announce that two of our Ph.D. in Geography students have recently been named major Graduate School Fellowship winners. Please join us in conveying hearty congratulations to Logan Twohey and Jennifer Bates. Incoming doctoral student Logan Twohey is the 2022-2023 recipient of the Dr. William F. Kennedy […]

Dr. Michelle Zuñiga will be going to California at the end of the month for a book launch event at the University of California, Irvine! Congradulations Michelle!!! Gentrification is one of the most debilitating—and least understood—issues in American cities today. Scholars and community activists adjoin in Gentrification, Displacement, and Alternative Futures to engage directly and […]

MS Earth Sciences Student Nora Vaughan was awarded the 2022 Peter Birkeland Award in Soil Geomorphology by the Geological Society of America Quaternary Geology & Geomorphology Division. This award recognizes Nora’s research “Factors controlling Holocene Piedmont Hillslope Processes” conducted with Dr. Eppes. She will be presented with the award at the 2022 GSA meeting in […]

Dr. Jack Scheff will be on WFAE’s Charlotte Talks from 9-10am on April 28th (4/28) with WFAE climate reporter David Boraks and Andy Pershing from Climate Central. We will be discussing “the higher temperatures in the region this winter, how climate change is impacting allergy season and what to expect from the summer/hurricane season this […]

Congratulations to Jasen Greco, double major in Meteorology and Earth and Environmental Sciences, for his success at the UNC Charlotte Undergraduate Research Conference. Jasen won the Science, Technology, Engineering Poster Presentation Award for his study entitled “Comparing High-Shear, Low-CAPE Supercell Weather Events in the Southeastern United States vs. The Great Plains.” This work was conducted […]

Jean-Claude Thill, Knight Distinguished Professor of Public Policy in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, is the 2022 recipient of the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal, UNC Charlotte’s most prestigious faculty award, in recognition of excellence in research. He was honored at a special reception April 14. https://inside.charlotte.edu/news-features/2022-04-21/thill-receives-first-citizens-bank-scholars-medal

NPR article about Green infrastructure Federal agencies are beginning to hand out billions of dollars in infrastructure spending, the largest investment ever made in the country’s water system. Much of it will go to improving pipes, drains and stormwater systems. But some scientists and urban planners are pushing to fund projects that are better adapted […]

Several GES Faculty are members of UNC Charlotte’s Migration Research Network (MRN) recently profiled in Inside UNC Charlotte. Dr. Heather Smith is MRN co-leader and Drs. Micahel Ewers; Colleen Hammellman; Jean-Claude Thill and Michelle Zuniga are MRN members. Their research focuses on a broad range of migration-related topics at local, regional, and global scales, positioning […]

Kudos to Ph.D. in Geography Candidate Sara Tornabene who is the recipient of the AAG’s award for Best Student Paper for Geography & Entrepreneurship: https://www.aag.org/award-grant/kauffman/. Sara received this honor for a paper she published with Dr. Isabelle Nilsson: Tornabene, S., & Nilsson, I. (2021). Rail transit investments and economic development: Challenges for small businesses. Journal […]

In late March, multiple GES graduate students and faculty attended the Southern Appalachian Weather and Climate (SAWC) workshop in Asheville, North Carolina. The workshop brought together a diverse group of students, academics, federal scientists, and broadcast media to share current research, share advancements in operational practice, and facilitate improved communication of weather, water, and climate […]

Paul Jung, a 2021 Geography Ph.D. graduate, received the Outstanding Dissertation Award of the American Association of Geographers’ Transportation Geography Specialty Group. His dissertation was titled “Distance Friction and Spatial Interaction Dynamics of International Freight Transportation.” In his dissertation, he studied the nature of spatial interaction phenomena and distance friction in the context of the […]

An Analysis of Local and Combined (Global) Scours on Piers-on-Bank Bridges. The Chaven et al. article has been selected for the cover page of the journal Civil Engineering. The research derives from the NCDOT funded DeepHyd project (Wenwu is the PI, Diemer, S-E Chen (CEEG) and Allan are co-PI’s) (Shukla, Slocum and T. Chen) are […]

Director of research and outreach Douglas Shoemaker was recently featured in the Charlotte Observer’s multipart story on tree canopy loss in the City. Despite a canopy coverage exceeding the national average, Charlotte has been losing more than 3 football fields of forest per day since 2012. The region remains a real estate draw for its […]

Dr. Jean-Claude Thill is Knight Foundation Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Thill is highly regarded for his substantial research and training contributions to quantitative human geography and GIScience sub-field. He has an impressive record of sustained and diverse service to the discipline. For ten years, he served as the editor-in-chief of […]

Dr. Colleen Hammelman’s book “Greening Cities by Growing Food, A Political Ecology Analysis of Urban Agriculture in the Americas” was officially release/published. This book examines how urban agriculture (UA) is valued in the sustainable city. Through a comparative examination of UA projects in four cities across the Americas – Rosario, Argentina; Toronto, Canada; Medellín, Colombia; […]

Terry Shirley, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences wins two National Forecasting trophies in the 2020-2021 contest. Known as the WxChallenge (Weather Challenge), this national annual contest includes over 1,100 forecasters from all over the United States. Meteorology faculty and students, as well as professional forecasters compete across 10 cities […]