Department Directory

	Ronald Abler Professor Emeritus of Geography rabler@aag.org Expertise: geography of communications systems; history of geographic thought
	Todd Bacastow Teaching Professor bacastow@psu.edu Expertise: Geospatial Intelligence; Analytic Methods; GIS; Comparative Analysis; Cognitive Processes
	Peter Backhaus Graduate Student (M.S. + Ph.D.) pbackhaus@psu.edu Expertise: Wetlands; Ecological Assessment; Ecology; Remote Sensing
	Mahda Bagher Graduate Student (Ph.D.) mmm6749@psu.edu Expertise: Spatial Cognition; Human Cognition & Perception; Designing Embodied Learning Experiences in VR; Virtual Reality; GIScience and Geospatial Analysis; 3D modeling and 3D Visualization; Integrating Geospatial Data In Immersive VR; Virtual Field Trips; Place-based Education
	Jennifer Baka Assistant Professor jeb525@psu.edu Expertise: Energy geographies; Political-industrial ecology; Environmental governance
	Ann Bartos Courtesy Scholar aeb6276@psu.edu Expertise: feminist political geography; care ethics; political ecology of food and agriculture; children's geographies
	Matthew Bauerlin Graduate Student (M.S.) MattBauerlin@psu.edu Expertise: American South; Political Economy; Political Ecology; Critical Geography; Cultural Geographies; Social Justice
	Ryan Baxter Associate Teaching Professor rbaxter@psu.edu Expertise: geospatial technologies; land-use change; data management and distribution; energy
	Trevor Birkenholtz Associate Head of Resident Graduate Programs tlb5964@psu.edu Expertise: political ecology; development; social theory; nature-society relations; gender-dynamics; South Asia; water resources
	Alejandra Bonilla Mena Graduate Student (Ph.D.) apb6399@psu.edu Expertise: urban and economic geography; real estate markets; financialization; housing; entrepreneurship governments
	Cynthia Brewer Professor of Geography cab38@psu.edu Expertise: cartographic communication and visualization; map design; color theory; multi-scale mapping; atlas production; topographic maps; cartography
	Ruth Buck Graduate Student (M.S. + Ph.D.) rkb5550@psu.edu Expertise: redistricting; population; scale; segregation; GIS
	Andrew Carleton Professor amc7@psu.edu Expertise: climatology; synoptic climatology; climate dynamics; climate impacts of aviation contrails; human impacts on climate; climate variability and change; land surface-climate interactions; polar climatology; polar lows; Southern Ocean; Antarctica
	Hannah Caudill Graduate Student (M.S.) hrc5166@psu.edu Expertise: Environmental Policy; Conservation; Sustainability
	Guido Cervone Acting Director of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences cervone@psu.edu Expertise: environmental hazards; remote sensing; geoinformatics; social media
	Shuyu Chang Graduate Student (Ph.D.) shuyu.chang@psu.edu Expertise: Ecohydrology; Contaminant transport; Deep learning; Remote Sensing; Chesapeake Bay
	Mei-Huan Chen Graduate Student (Ph.D.) mzc496@psu.edu Expertise: Political ecology; Science, Technology and Society (STS); Critical geography; East Asia
	Harrison Cole Graduate Student (Ph.D.) harrisoncole@psu.edu Expertise: Cartography; Geovisualization; GIS; Accessibility; Environmental Justice; Logistics
	Robert Crane Professor Emeritus of Geography rqc3@psu.edu Expertise: climatology; regional scale climate change; African climates
	Marnie Deibler Proposal and Award Generalist mpr5@psu.edu Expertise: Proposal preparation and submission, including subawards; Administer amendments or continuations; Monitor grant and contract balances, fulfill reporting requirements, and compose closing documents; Promotion & Tenure, 5 Year Post reviews; Faculty Activity Reports
	Jim Detwiler Associate Teaching Professor jed124@psu.edu Expertise: geospatial programming; web mapping; spatial databases; climate
	Nicolle Di Domenico Graduate Student (M.S.) ntd5143@psu.edu Expertise: remote sensing; cryosphere; machine learning; physical geography; climate change
	Lorraine Dowler Associate Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lxd17@psu.edu Expertise: political geography; gender; qualitative methods; feminist geopolitics
	Roger Downs Associate Head of Undergraduate Programs rd7@psu.edu Expertise: spatial cognition; cognitive development; geography education; behavioral geography
	William Easterling Professor wee2@psu.edu Expertise: environmental change; agricultural systems; climate; renewable natural resources; land use
	Rodney Erickson 17th President of Penn State rae@psu.edu
	Cindy Etchison NRT Program Coordinator - LandscapeU cds149@psu.edu
	Corina Fernandez Researcher cxf31@psu.edu Expertise: GIS applications in hydrology and water resources; spatial landscape analysis; environmental modeling
	Caitlin Flanagan Graduate Student (Ph.D.) cff5224@psu.edu
	Chris Fowler Director of The Peter R. Gould Center for Geography Education and Outreach csfowler@psu.edu Expertise: inequality; population; scale; economic; urban; race; segregation
	Susan Friedman Affiliate Instructor swf3@psu.edu Expertise: historical geography; social geography; history of geography
	James Gaboardi Post-doctoral Scholar jgaboardi@psu.edu Expertise: spatial optimization; population (dis)aggregations; network-based modeling; high-performance computing; object-oriented programming
	Brandi Gaertner Assistant Teaching Professor bah6009@psu.edu Expertise: Hydrology; Climate Change; normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) ; growing season length; Spatial Analysis; Spatial Statistics; R statistical programming and modeling; GISciences
	Panagiotis Giannakis Assistant Teaching Professor pmg5371@psu.edu
	Zach Goldberg Graduate Student (Ph.D.) zag5022@psu.edu Expertise: agroecology; Agroforestry; Politcal Ecology; agrobiodiversity
	Adrienne Goldsberry Assistant Teaching Professor adg30@psu.edu Expertise: GIS Education; Urban Planning; Environmental Perception & Attitudes
	Nikolay Golosov Graduate Student (Ph.D.) golosov@psu.edu Expertise: Cartography; Geovisualization; GIS; geospatial programming
	Larry Gorenflo Professor of Landscape Architecture and Geography ljg11@psu.edu Expertise: biodiversity conservation; cultural ecology; East Africa; Latin America; Southeast Asia
	Helen Greatrex Assistant Professor of Geography hlg5155@psu.edu Expertise: weather risk management; geostatistics; uncertainty estimation; historical weather analysis; satellite rainfall estimation; index insurance; agricultural modeling; social equity
	Tatiana Gumucio Post-doctoral scholar tjg5820@psu.edu Expertise: climate variability and change; livelihoods; gender, ethnicity, and race; agriculture and food security
	Casey Hamilton Graduate Student (MS+PhD) cwh5643@psu.edu Expertise: landscape ecology; GIS; remote sensing; disturbance
	Owen Harrington Graduate Student (MS + PhD) ofh5033@psu.edu Expertise: Energy; Political Economy; Political Ecology; Critical Theory; Theories of Knowledge; Marxist Geography
	Kevin Harris Graduate Student (M.S. + Ph.D.) kph13@psu.edu Expertise: Political Ecology; Sustainability; Critical Geography
	Lucas Harris Post-doctoral scholar lbh146@psu.edu Expertise: biogeography; fire ecology; forest ecology; climate change; species distributions
	Judy Heltman Graduate Program Assistant jle5@psu.edu Expertise: Manage graduate applications and admission process; Coordinate and process Graduate School paperwork; Process fellowships and assistantships; Advise graduate students and faculty on policies and procedures.
	Nebraska Hernández Graduate Student (M.S.) nah5344@psu.edu Expertise: environmental justice; political ecology; cartography
	Robert Hibbert Computer Lab Supervisor rlh23@psu.edu Expertise: Supervises Geography teaching and research computer laboratories; Provides IT technical support and problem resolution,
	Mikael Hiestand Graduate Student (M.S.+Ph.D.) mph21@psu.edu
	Bradley Hinger Graduate Student (Ph.D.) bfh5093@psu.edu Expertise: Race/Racism; Black Geographies; Urban Geography; Cultural Geography; Transportation Mobilities; Just Energy Transitions
	Deryck Holdsworth Professor Emeritus of Geography dwh6@psu.edu Expertise: urban historical geography; historical geography of North America; historial GIS
	Louisa Holmes Assistant Professor of Geography lmholmes@psu.edu Expertise: health disparities; socio-spatial determinants of health; tobacco control; substance use; quantitative and geospatial research methods; survey research; area-level observational studies
	Joshua Inwood Director of Penn State Lab for Analysis of Culture and Environment (PLACE) jfi6@psu.edu Expertise: critical race theory; peace geographies; social movements; political economy; urban geography; social justice; cultural geography
	Gregory Jenkins Professor of Meteorology gsj1@psu.edu Expertise: Atmospheric/Air Chemistry; Climate; Tropical Meteorology
	Fritz Kessler Teaching Professor fck2@psu.edu Expertise: Map projections; Datums; Cartographic Design; History of Cartography; Spatial Analysis; Qualitative Analysis
	Beth King Associate Teaching Professor exf107@psu.edu Expertise: GIS; data management; geospatial analysis; online education
	Brian King Head of Department king@psu.edu Expertise: development; conservation; Southern Africa; cultural and political ecology; health; livelihoods; justice
	Denise Kloehr Administrative Support Cordinator dak28@psu.edu Expertise: Office Manager; Human Resources; Visas; Salaries; Sabbaticals; General and Research Budget Administration; Awards; Endowments; Promotion and Tenure
	Susan Kotikot Graduate Student (Ph.D.) smk6598@psu.edu Expertise: Landscape ecology; Agro-ecosystems; Climate change; Remote Sensing; GIS data and methods
	Jessica Kromer Graduate Student (PhD) kromer@psu.edu Expertise: climate variability and change; cryosphere system interactions; ice sheet surface mass balance; remote sensing
	Chanel Lange-Maney Graduate Student (Ph.D.) cml5476@psu.edu Expertise: Feminist geopolitics; Queer and feminist geography; Geographies of care; Coalitional activism
	Matthew Leddy Graduate Student (MS+PhD) mcl5371@psu.edu Expertise: conservation and development; natural resource management; climate change; livelihoods; environmental justice
	Alan MacEachren Professor Emeritus of Geography and Information Science & Technology maceachren@psu.edu Expertise: visual analytics; geovisualization; geographic information retrieval; place & big data
	Grace Malley Graduate Student (Ph.D.) gsm11@psu.edu Expertise: Natural Resources Management; Conservation and Development; Human-Wildlife Interactions; People-Park Relations; Corridor Connectivity; Shared Landscapes; Land Use Dynamics; Social Ecological Systems; Livelihoods; Food Security
	Arif Masrur Graduate Student (Ph.D.) axm733@psu.edu Expertise: GIScience; GeoVisual and Immersive Analytics; Urban-Environmental Systems
	Stephen Matthews Liberal Arts Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, Demography, and Geography sxm27@psu.edu Expertise: geographic information systems; demography; health and well-being; multi-method research
	Tara Mazurczyk Graduate Student (M.S.+Ph.D.) tjm5447@psu.edu Expertise: wetland dynamics; natural resource management; ecosystem services; climate change; GIS; landscape ecology and conservation
	Eden Mekonen Graduate Student (M.S. + Ph.D.) evm5746@psu.edu Expertise: Identity; Othering and Belonging; Diaspora/(Im)migration; Horn of Africa; Critical Theory
	Tiza Mfuni Graduate Student (M.S. + Ph.D.) tim5357@psu.edu Expertise: Remote sensing; Landscape ecology; Forestry; Rural sociology; Climate change; Political ecology
	Doug Miller Research Professor Emeritus dam8@psu.edu Expertise: remote sensing; geomorphology; soils; GIS; landscape ecology; small unmanned autonomous systems
	Karan Misquitta Graduate Student (Ph.D.) kjm6596@psu.edu Expertise: Natural Resource Management; Groundwater; Collective Action
	Elham Nasr Azadani Graduate Student (Ph.D.) eun32@psu.edu Expertise: Environmental Education; Sustainability Competencies; Competency-based Education; Data Visualization (Graph Design)
	Jonathan Nelson Director, Center for Environmental Informatics jknelson@psu.edu Expertise: cartography; geovisual analytics; visual communication; multiscale representation; user-centered design; human-data interaction
	Dani Niziolek Graduate Student (M.S.) dkn5194@psu.edu Expertise: Fire ecology; postfire regeneration; disturbance ecology
	Norman Ornelas Jr. Graduate Student (Ph.D.) nxo7@psu.edu Expertise: Economic Geography; Race/Racism; Queer and Feminist Theory; Decolonial Studies; Urban Geography
	Zhuolai Pan Graduate Student (MS) zup21@psu.edu Expertise: ice sheet surface melt; polar climate; remote sensing
	Suraiya Parvin Graduate Student (Ph.D.) svp6104@psu.edu Expertise: Health and Place; Immigrants; Place Attachment; Migration; Cultural Geography; GIS
	Ruchi Patel Graduate Student (Ph.D.) rdp20@psu.edu Expertise: conservation and development; integrated landscape management; livelihoods; Latin America
	Darlene Peletski Administrative Support Assistant ddp12@psu.edu Expertise: LionPath; Access Coordinator; Purchasing; Safety Coordinator
	Donna Peuquet Professor Emerita of Geography peuquet@psu.edu Expertise: environmental cognition; geographic information science; space-time representation; spatial data models
	Nathan Piekielek Kalin Librarian for Technological Innovations nbp104@psu.edu Expertise: geographic information science; remote sensing and spatial analysis geospatial research support ; landscape ecology and conservation ; interdisciplinary social and natural science research
	Bronwen Powell Assistant Professor of Geography, African Studies, and Anthropology bxp15@psu.edu Expertise: Biodiversity and Nutrition; Wild and forest foods; Dietary patterns and dietary diversity; Traditional food systems; Applied Research for improved policy and practice
	Prakriti Prajapati Graduate Student (Ph.D.) pmp5473@psu.edu Expertise: Water Governance; Everyday State; Politics of Knowledge; Infrastructural Geographies; Normative Ethics; Public Policy
	Gillian Prater-Lee Graduate Student (MS+PhD) gxp5201@psu.edu Expertise: urban geography; redistricting; critical geography
	Timothy Prestby Graduate Student (MS+PhD) tprestby@psu.edu Expertise: storytelling; cartography; data journalism; interactive cartography
	Elise Quinn Graduate Student ( M.S. + Ph.D.) eaq10@psu.edu Expertise: the Black radical tradition; racial capitalism; feminist epistemology and knowledge production; postcolonial and critical theory; communities of care, spaces of affirmation
	Michelle Ritchie Graduate Student (Ph.D.) mar550@psu.edu Expertise: climate change adaptation; vulnerability and resilience; coastal communities; Arctic and near-Arctic environments
	Anthony Robinson Director of Online Geospatial Education acr181@psu.edu Expertise: geovisual analytics; cartography; user-centered design; geovisualization; information visualization
	Brandi Robinson Assistant Teaching Professor bjn151@psu.edu Expertise: greenhouse gas emissions; energy conservation; energy policy
	Vivian Rodriguez Rocha Graduate Student (Ph.D.) vdr10@psu.edu Expertise: Feminist political geography; Social reproduction theory; Feminist movements in Latin America; Qualitative methods
	Angela Rogers Marketing Communications Specialist amr115@psu.edu Expertise: Science writer; Department webmaster; Newsletter editor; Photography and videography
	Emily Rosenman Assistant Professor ekr5260@psu.edu Expertise: financialization; philanthropy; impoverishment; housing; urban and economic geography
	Marie Louise Ryan Graduate Student (Ph.D.) mdr259@psu.edu
	Julie Sanchez Graduate Student (Ph.D.) jms1286@psu.edu Expertise: Arctic Amplification; climate change; synoptic climatology; Arctic Climate Change; Greenland Ice Sheet melt
	Karen Schuckman Associate Teaching Professor kls505@psu.edu Expertise: Photogrammetry; Lidar; UAS mapping; Accuracy Assessment
	Harman Singh Graduate Student (M.S. + Ph.D.) hxs5376@psu.edu Expertise: Natural Hazards; Floods; GIS; Climate Science; Statistics
	Erica Smithwick Director of the Center for Landscape Dynamics smithwick@psu.edu Expertise: landscape ecology; ecosystem ecology; biogeochemistry; fire ecology
	Billy Southern Graduate Student (Ph.D.) bms6724@psu.edu Expertise: Sociospatial inequalities; Neighborhood and community processes ; Urban geography
	Olivia Spencer Graduate Student (M.S. + Ph.D.) obs5088@psu.edu Expertise: landscape ecology; remote sensing; GIS; climate change
	Marcela Suarez Assistant Teaching Professor marcela.suarez@psu.edu Expertise: Spatial Data Science; Geographic Information Science; Cartography; Emergency Management; Spatio-temporal Data Mining; Spatial Data Quality
	Gabriel Tamariz Graduate Student (Ph.D.) gabrieltamariz@psu.edu Expertise: political ecology and social-ecological systems; agrobiodiversity; drug wars; food sovereignty; violent environments; collective action
	Alan Taylor Professor aht1@psu.edu Expertise: landscape ecology; fire ecology; disturbance and climate effects on vegetation; biogeography; biological conservation; environmental management; paleoecology
	Gregory Thomas Assistant Director of Geospatial Intelligence Programs gat5@psu.edu Expertise: geospatial intelligence; Intelligence analysis; Homeland security
	Mandy Thompson Administrative Support Coordinator (Budget) met15@psu.edu Expertise: Employee reimbursement system; Travel reimbursements; Wage payroll; Award and scholarship disbursements; Faculty searches; Budget monitoring; Reconcile all general and restricted budget expenditures
	Ben Townsend Graduate Student (M.S. + Ph.D.) bct5191@psu.edu Expertise: Health Geography; GIS; Statistics; Population Geography; International Development
	Luke Trusel Assistant Professor trusel@psu.edu Expertise: climate variability and change; ice sheet surface mass balance; ice core paleoclimatology; remote sensing
	Ramzi Tubbeh Graduate Student (Ph.D.) rmt5319@psu.edu Expertise: political ecology of water; irrigation; environmental governance; common-pool resources; development; indigenous peoples; communal land titling; Latin America
	Saumya Vaishnava Graduate Student (M.S. + Ph.D.) suv276@psu.edu Expertise: Political economy of energy; Energy infrastructure; Hydropower; South Asia; Governance
	Kimberly Van Meter Assistant Professor of Geography vanmeterkvm@psu.edu Expertise: Water Quality; Wetlands; Biogeochemistry; Environmental Modeling; Remote Sensing; Human-Environment Interactions
	Jodi Vender Academic Adviser jvender@psu.edu Expertise: geography education; human geography; women in the history of geography; geographical societies
	Shujie Wang Assistant Professor of Geography skw5660@psu.edu Expertise: remote sensing; machine learning; numerical modeling; ice flow dynamics; snow/ice albedo; glacier algae
	Denice Wardrop Research Professor dhw110@psu.edu Expertise: ecological indicator development; monitoring and assessment for environmental management; wetland ecosystem services; impacts of anthropogenic change
	Jacklyn Weier Graduate Student (Ph.D.) juw963@psu.edu Expertise: Feminist Geography; Geographies of Sexualities; Feminist Political Economy; Diverse/Community Economies
	Melissa Wright Professor of Geography and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies mww11@psu.edu Expertise: Critical geography; Urban landscapes; Mexico-US borderlands; Latin America; Intersectional feminist and critical race studies; Social Movements; Post-colonial and decolonial studies
	Fangcao Xu Graduate Student (Ph.D.) fbx5002@psu.edu Expertise: GIScience, Geospatial Big Data Analytics and Geo-visualization ; Natural Language Processing; Social Network Analysis; Spatiotemporal Information Diffusion; Machine Learning, Data Mining
	Lakshman Yapa Professor Emeritus of Geography lxy3@psu.edu Expertise: Post-modern discourse theory; Third World; theories of poverty; community development; GIS applications; public scholarship and service learning
	Brent Yarnal Professor Emeritus of Geography alibar@psu.edu Expertise: global change in local places; climate variation and change; land-use/land-cover change; natural hazards; coupled human-environment systems
	Travis Young Graduate Student (Ph.D.) TMY11@PSU.EDU Expertise: disaster recovery; vulnerability and resilience; fair and affordable housing; urban planning
	Manzhu Yu Assistant Professor mqy5198@psu.edu Expertise: geographic information science; spatiotemporal theories and applications; big data and cloud computing; natural hazards and extreme weather; environmental informatics; spatial data science and deep learning
	Michelle Zeiders Assistant Teaching Professor mgz1@psu.edu Expertise: GIS; spatial analysis; online geospatial education; geoenvironmental studies
	Lilly Zeitler Graduate Student (PhD) lmz5288@psu.edu Expertise: Sustainable nutrition; tropical agroecology; agroforestry; ethnobotany; climate change
	Wendy Zeller Zigaitis Graduate Student (Ph.D.) wlz101@psu.edu Expertise: geovisualization; user experience; unmanned aerial systems; conservation; resource scarcity; wildlife poaching
	Shiyan Zhang Graduate Student (Ph.D.) szz5367@psu.edu Expertise: GIS application; Python, R programming; Machine learning/Deep learning; Database; Trajectory analysis
	Karl Zimmerer Professor ksz2@psu.edu Expertise: land use and agricultural change/global change; economic development/globalization/neoliberalism; nature-society and human-environment theory environmental impacts (biodiversity/soils/water/conservation); food/producer-consumer networks/sustainability

Department of Geography

Department Directory