Dear Friends,
Hello from the Department of Geography! As I write this, I’m reflecting on the fall quarter - our first quarter back in Smith Hall after many quarters of remote teaching and learning by faculty and students connecting from all over the world. Of course the return to on-campus operations brings challenges and some activities still aren’t possible, but we are thrilled to be able to see each other in person again!
This fall, we continued to serve approximately 400 undergraduate majors, welcomed six outstanding new graduate students from around the world, and celebrated multiple new Ph.D. and M.A. degrees! In November, we convened our third annual Geographers in Practice panel discussion. This year’s event took place online once again, but this gave us the opportunity to learn from three alums now working in Shanghai, China; Geneva, Switzerland; and closer to home in the Snohomish Valley! We invite you to view a video recording of the event on our Geographers in Practice website.
We are delighted to welcome several new faculty colleagues. Assistant Professor Dr. Mia Bennett joins us from a prior faculty appointment at Hong Kong University. Her research and teaching interests include infrastructure development in the Arctic, geopolitics, Indigenous land rights and land use, and remote sensing. She is currently working on multiple research projects focused on just and equitable futures of Arctic development, and will be expanding curriculum in exciting ways with her critical remote sensing expertise. Acting Assistant Professor Dr. Sam Kay joins us from a prior appointment at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and will offer a wonderfully diverse range of human geography courses this year. Acting Assistant Professor Dr. Gunwha Oh will teach a creative suite of GIS and digital geographies courses. Last spring, Dr. Oh was the winner of our annual outstanding teaching award from our undergraduates, so we are especially excited she will be working with our students again this year!
Our faculty and students continue to do significant research and public advocacy on urgent issues of many kinds! Last spring, Professor Suzanne Withers’s GIS Workshop students carried out multiple important mapping and spatial analysis projects for local organizations, including research supporting Real Change’s advocacy around disporporationate enforcement and impacts of Seattle’s bicycle helmet law for unsheltered people. Professor Bo Zhao’s ongoing research on the rise of “deepfake geography” that uses altered satellite images for misinformation continues to draw significant scholarly attention and media coverage. Professor Kim England is part of a very large international research team recently awarded a large Partnership Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for a collaborative project, Understanding Precarity in British Columbia, impacts of precarious employment and working toward policy solutions.
As friends and alumni, you play a crucial role in supporting these accomplishments. We are so grateful for your gifts, your involvement in department events and programs, and your efforts to champion geography in your professional and personal communities. Please keep in touch as we are always happy to hear from you!
Warm wishes,
Sarah Elwood-Faustino, Professor and Chair
