UMBC Geography and Environmental Systems Department
Browse by
A hallmark of the Department of Geography & Environmental Systems is its broadly integrative nature, drawing on the expertise of faculty with diverse backgrounds but with a common mission. Research interests among current regular departmental faculty span a broad range of topics in earth systems science, ecosystem science, human geography and urban geography, and human dimensions of global change, with application of geospatial technology to research questions across all areas of interest. Despite the diversity of research and teaching interests, there is a common focus on the importance of coupled natural and human systems and on landscape pattern in relation to human activities and their environmental consequences, and we see this as a broad programmatic thrust for our graduate degree offerings. Research based in the Department of Geography and Environmental Systems involves interdisciplinary collaborative work of local, regional and international scope.
Recent Submissions
-
Antibiotic responsibility and agricultural publics: diverse stakeholder perceptions of antibiotic use in animal agriculture
(Springer Nature, 2023-05-01)This paper examines diverse perspectives around the concept of responsibility concerning antibiotic use in animal agriculture. Antibiotic use in agriculture has been identified as a source of antimicrobial resistance, one ... -
Passive monitoring of avian habitat on working lands
(ESA, 2023-04-24)Intensive agricultural landscapes are a challenge for wildlife managers, policy makers, and landowners hoping to increase the diversity of desired wildlife species, such as grassland birds, which require urgent conservation ... -
Effectiveness of environmental site design in protecting stream channel stability
(2023)Environmental site design (ESD) seeks to minimize the impacts of urbanization on stream systems by conserving natural drainage features, minimizing the use of impervious surfaces, and slowing runoff through the use of ... -
CARE TO BELONG: CONSTRUCTING, NEGOTIATING, AND DISRUPTING LATIN AMERICAN (IM)MIGRANT YOUTH (UN)DESERVINGNESS IN A WELCOMING CITY
(2022-01-01)Immigrant children and youth are one of the fastest growing populations in cities in the US. At the same time, they have been one of the groups most affected by dehumanizing and anti-immigrant discourses and practices ... -
Releasing sediments while reconnecting rivers: how do channels respond and how long does it take?
(EGU, 2023-04-03)Sediment management is an important aspect of river reconnection projects, often driving costs and influencing community acceptance. At sites with uncontaminated sediments, downstream release is an attractive option ... -
Simulating Global Dynamic Surface Reflectances for Imaging Spectroscopy Spaceborne Missions: LPJ-PROSAIL
(AGU, 2023-02-17)Spectroscopic reflectance data provide novel information on the properties of the Earth's terrestrial and aquatic surfaces. Until recently, imaging spectroscopy missions were dependent mainly on airborne instruments, such ... -
The Effectiveness of Global Protected Areas for Climate Change Mitigation
(2022-12-13)Forests play a critical role in stabilizing Earth’s climate. Establishing Protected Areas (PAs) represents one approach to forest conservation, but PAs were rarely created to mitigate climate change. The global impact ... -
Migratory birds with delayed spring departure migrate faster but pay the costs
(Wiley, 2022-12-01)Migratory birds that experience poor overwintering conditions are often late to arrive at the breeding grounds, which is known to depress individual fitness. Despite the importance of this carryover effect, few studies ... -
Current street tree communities reflect race-based housing policy and modern attempts to remedy environmental injustice
(Wiley, 2022-10-05)Humans promote and inhibit other species on the urban landscape, shaping biodiversity patterns. Institutional racism may underlie the distribution of urban species by creating disproportionate resources in space and time. ... -
LA’s Green New Deal with Dr. Kelly Kay
(UMBC Center for Social Science Research, 2022-08-22) -
The Hidden Benefits of Water Recreation w/ Dr. Yusuke Kuwayama
(UMBC Center for Social Science Research, 2022-07-25) -
The Social Science of the Climate Crisis w/ Dr. Tracey Osborne
(UMBC Center for Social Science Research, 2021-10-15) -
Gender structured representations of the migrant Venezuelan women in Colombian and Venezuelan Newspapers during 2015-2020.
(2022-01-01)This thesis explores news media representations of Venezuelan migrant women by Colombian and Venezuelan newspapers from years 2015 to 2020. Through Critical Discourse Analysis of news articles from El Nacional (Ven), El ... -
Using Spiderwebs to Detect Spatial Differences in Metal Air Pollution
(2021-01-01)Long term studies of air pollution have been limited to stationary monitoring conducted by government bodies or large research institutions. These official monitoring sites can only measure a limited area, and the data ... -
THE ROLE OF ROAD SALT DEICER AND RESOURCE BIODIVERSITY ON AQUATIC CONSUMER FEEDING DYNAMICS
(2021-01-01)Road salt deicer is a growing pollutant of concern in the United States as urbanizationand human expansion continues at a rapid rate. Deicer infiltrates surface waters through stormwater runoff and increases chloride ... -
Mapping for Whom? Communities of Color and the Citizen Science Gap
(ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 2022-08-31)Citizen science harnesses the power of nonscientist observations, often resulting in a vast network of data. Such projects have potential to democratize science by involving the public. Yet participants are ... -
Doing Critical GIS
(ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 2022-08-31)This special issue emerges from a two-day workshop of the same name, held on April 1stand 2nd, 2019, in Baltimore, Maryland. Inspired by the continued growth and purchase of theories and practices of critical ... -
A tale of urban forest patch governance in four eastern US cities
(Elsevier, 2022-08-04)Urban forests are important components of societal interactions with nature. We focused on urban forest patches, a distinct and underexplored subset of the urban forest that spans land uses and ownerships, and requires ... -
Decolonizing children’s geographies: Challenging knowledge production about childhoods in Baltimore, MD
(Taylor & Francis, 2022-07-21)In this viewpoint, I argue for greater engagement between children’s geographies and decolonial scholarship. I suggest that decolonial scholarship, by emphasizing the role that knowledge plays in justifying and perpetuating ... -
Land Tenure Security and Sustainable Development
(Springer, 2022)This open access book presents a nuanced and accessible synthesis of the relationship between land tenure security and sustainable development. Contributing authors have collectively worked for decades on land tenure as ...