Continuing Faculty
Avi Lewis
location_onGEOG 129A
I am a documentary filmmaker and educator, with more than 30 years of experience in journalism and storytelling from the front lines of social movements. More recently, I have been deeply involved in the emergent frame of the Green New Deal.
Brett Eaton
I am a fluvial geomorphologist interested in how rivers respond to land use and environmental changes.
Brian Klinkenberg
My work focuses on advanced spatial analysis in the physical, health and social sciences, and in the intersection of these areas (e.g., medical biogeography and Geographic Information Science).
Dan Moore
Dan Moore
Professor
emaildan.moore@ubc.ca
phone604 822 3538
location_onGEOG 246
Research Area
Water, Ice, LandscapesMy research focuses on the influence of climate variability and change, in conjunction with forest and glacier dynamics, on hydrological processes and the patterns of streamflow and water quality.
Research Area
Water, Ice, Landscapes
Desirée Valadares
Desirée Valadares
She / Her / Hers
Assistant Professor | Affiliated Faculty, Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies (ACAM)
location_onGEOG 252
My research and teaching focus on territoriality, occupation, and empire in western Canada and the non-contiguous US with a focus on the aftermath of Asian migration (wartime forced relocation) in the Indigenous Pacific.
Elvin Wyly
Wyly analyzes the co-evolution of capitalist market processes and state policy in reproducing urban social relations and inequalities. Recent studies blend critical theory and multivariate quantification to examine inequalities in housing finance, gentrification, and the circulation of conspiracy theories in and beyond Trump's America....Read more
Geraldine Pratt
My research focuses on transnational migration, labour precarity, and new geographies of dementia care. I hold the Canada Research Chair in Transnationalism and Precarious Labour.
Ian McKendry
My long-term research goals have been primarily directed at understanding meteorological phenomena that develop in regions of complex, urbanized terrain.
Jamie Peck
phone604 822 0894
location_onGEOG 134
I am an economic geographer and institutional political economist with interests in capitalist transformations, urban and regional restructuring, and statecraft. My work explores how ostensibly 'global' processes are (re)made through localized sites, distanciated networks, and grounded practices.
Jemima Nomunume Baada
emailjemima.baada@ubc.ca
location_onGEOG 122
I am an interdisciplinary climate-migration scholar, and my research and teaching are at the intersections of gender, climate change, migration, health and development equity.
Jennifer Williams
phone604 827 1592
location_onGEOG 241
I conduct research to understand how evolution and ecology interact to change population dynamics and species interactions in space and time. Much of my work is focused on plants in temperate savannas and grasslands, and the herbivores that eat them.
Jessica Dempsey
phone604 822 3246
location_onGEOG 127A
My research and teaching focus on environmental politics. In geography this often goes under the label of political ecology, which considers how environmental politics is shaped by and shapes economics, science, culture, history, gender, racism, colonialism, social movements and more.
ON LEAVE
Until June 30, 2023
Jessica Wang
My research addresses the historical entanglements between science, knowledge, and power.
Jim Glassman
For my latest research and publications, please visit:
http://blogs.ubc.ca/glassman
Juanita Sundberg
phone604 822 3535
location_onGEOG 125
I bring the insights of feminist political ecology and the sensibilities of an ethnographer to bear on nature conservation, border security, and militarization.
ON LEAVE
Until June 30, 2023
Karen Bakker
I work at the intersection of environmental and economic geography. My primary research interests span political economy, political ecology, environmental studies, STS, and digital geographies.
Loch Brown
Loch's interests lies primarily in the theory and practice of political ecology, with a focus on global human-environmental systems and the use of emerging technologies in environmental and geographic education.
Luke Bergmann
Canada Research Chair in GIS, Geospatial Big Data and Digital Geohumanities
Marwan Hassan
My research covers a wide range of topics in geomorphology and hydrology. Model development has been a very important component of my research, with considerable experimental flume work used to complement field data.
Research Area
Water, Ice, Landscapes
Matthew Evenden
phone604 822 6407
location_onGEOG 251
My research lies in environmental history and water history and focuses on the history and politics of large rivers, particularly in Canada.
Merje Kuus
My research examines the making of expert knowledge in national and transnational regulatory institutions. I focus on diplomatic and geopolitical practices in Europe and the Arctic, but my broader interest lies in knowledge and power in bureaucratic settings.
Michael Fabris
As an Indigenous Geographer, my research focuses on processes of dispossession in settler colonial contexts, and the Indigenous social movements that seek to challenge these processes by reasserting Indigenous land and water relationships through their own forms of governance and legal jurisdiction....Read more
Michele Koppes
My research focuses on how glaciers, landscapes, and the people who dwell within them are responding to ongoing climate change. I currently hold the Canada Research Chair in Landscapes of Climate Change.
Mohammed Rafi Arefin
My research is focused on urban environmental politics. I draw on scholarship in infrastructural geographies, urban political ecology and environmental justice, geographical political economy, science and technology studies, and discard studies to explore the politics of urban waste and sanitation.
Naomi Klein
location_onGEOG 143
My research and teaching take place at the intersection of crisis and political transformation. I look at the ways that large-scale shocks, from economic crises to ecological disasters to terror attacks, act as catalysts and accelerators for broad-based social change.
Naomi Schwartz
Our lab's research addresses questions about the causes and consequences of disturbance and extreme events in tropical forest landscapes.
Nina Hewitt
My research explores vegetation dynamics with a focus on the impacts of human activities, particularly ecosystem fragmentation, altered disturbance regimes, biological invasions and climate change.
ON LEAVE
Until August 31, 2023
Philippe Le Billon
phone604 822 5218
location_onGEOG 216
My research explores tensions between environmental sustainability, development, and security issues. I investigate socio-environmental conflicts around extractive industries, ocean sustainability, the green transition, and the climate crisis.
Priti Narayan
My research and teaching interests center around urban processes and politics, particularly in India. I am currently the Director of the Centre for India and South Asian Research (CISAR).
Sally Hermansen
Sally Hermansen
Professor of Teaching
phone604 822 5970
location_onGEOG 144
Research Area
Digital Geographies, Geospatial Analysis, GISMy main area of interest is Geographic Data Visualization, and I teach courses in Cartography, Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing.
Research Area
Digital Geographies, Geospatial Analysis, GIS
Sara Knox
I study the exchange of carbon, water and energy between ecosystems & the atmosphere. I investigate how land atmosphere exchanges of greenhouse gas fluxes respond to a changing climate and disturbances, & how we can modify land management practices for climate change mitigation & adaptation. I hold the Canada Research Chair in Eco-Meteorology....Read more
ON LEAVE
Until June 30, 2023
Simon Donner
emailsimon.donner@ubc.ca
phone604 822 6959
location_onGEOG 133
Research Area
Climate: Science, Change, ActionI am a climate scientist focused on helping the world prevent and prepare for climate change. My research program lies primarily at the intersection of climate change science, marine science, and policy.
Research Area
Climate: Science, Change, Action
ON LEAVE
Until July 31, 2023
Siobhán Wittig McPhee
Siobhán Wittig McPhee
ON LEAVE
Until July 31, 2023
Associate Professor of Teaching | Associate Dean, Equity, Innovation & Strategy
phone604 827 2078
location_onGEOG 124
My role as an educator in the Educational Leadership Stream at UBC, is one of being a facilitator for students learning. I view my role as an academic and an educator to encourage students and to equip them with the tools they need for their success both academically and more broadly.
Trevor Barnes
I have been mainly pursuing various themes in the history of twentieth-century geography. This includes the role of American geographers in the Cold War, geography's Vietnam War protestors and the history of North American radical geography.
Sessional Lecturers
Dawn Mooney
emaildawn.mooney@ubc.ca
location_onGEOG 144
Research Area
Digital Geographies, Geospatial Analysis, GISI teach cartography and work as a cartographer and data visualizer at the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research. I am interested in methods of effective visual communication of health data and in using mapping to explore, communicate and address geographic disparities in health.
Research Area
Digital Geographies, Geospatial Analysis, GIS
Mike Turley
Mike Turley
Sessional Lecturer (Summer Term 1)
location_onGEOG 225
Pursuing a doctor of philosophy degree
Research Area: Geomorphology, Sediment Connectivity
Supervisor: Marwan Hassan
Degrees: B.Sc. in Geoscience (USU); M.Sc. in Geography (UBC)
Postdoctoral Fellows
David Adams
David Adams
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
emaildavid.adams@ubc.ca
phone604 822 9105
location_onGEOG 127
Research Area
Water, Ice, LandscapesPursuing a Universitas 21 Joint PhD between the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Melbourne (UoM), supervised by Dr. Brett Eaton.
Research Area
Water, Ice, Landscapes
June Skeeter
June Skeeter
Postdoctoral Research Fellow | Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow (Summer Term 1)
location_onGEOG 144
Program: PhD
Supervisor: Greg Henry and Andreas Christen
Hometown: Salisbury, Maryland, USA
I am a non-binary geographer, researcher, and educator and my pronouns are they/them/theirs. I have been living as an uninvited guest on unceded Coast Salish Territory since 2015 and (will soon receive) ...Read more
Paroma Wagle
emailparoma.wagle@ubc.ca
Paroma is an urban researcher working in the fields of public policy, urban planning, urban history, political ecology, and systems thinking. Her research focuses on megacities and water access and urban climate justice. At UBC, she leads the project Urban Climate Justice from Below.
Visiting Scholars
Dan Suarez
Dan Suarez
Visiting Assistant Professor (Middlebury College)
location_onGEOG 216
Visiting from Middlebury College from August 3, 2022- September 5, 2023
Political ecology, environmental justice, global environmental politics, science studies, institutional theory, organizational ethnography, conservation, ecosystem services, theories of change
Heather Kharouba
Heather Kharouba
Visiting Associate Professor (University of Ottawa)
location_onGEOG 142
Visiting from University of Ottawa from January 6, 2023- July 15, 2023
Associate Members
Andre Zimmermann
André Zimmermann is a professional geoscientist who conducts studies on sediment transport and river systems. He works for Northwest Hydraulic Consultants on a variety of river and coastal projects for clients that include municipal, provincial and federal governments, individual land own...Read more
Research Area
Water, Ice, Landscapes
David Clements
David Clements
Affiliate Professor
emailclements@twu.ca
David R. Clements (Ph.D., Queen’s University) is a Professor of Biology and Assistant Dean of Science at Trinity Western University (TWU) in Canada. He researches invasive weed biology in BC, and other parts of the world such as China and Australia, and has published extensively. He has served as ...Read more
Dori Kovanen
Dori Kovanen
Research Associate
emaildkovanen@nas.com
Georg Jost
Georg Jost
Adjunct Professor
I am a hydrologist and work as a forecaster at BC Hydro. My daily bread and butter job is to forecast inflows for most of the reservoirs in our Province from an hourly to annual time scales.
Glen Coulthard
Glen Coulthard
Associate Member (First Nations & Indigenous Studies)
phone604 822 2880
location_onBUCH E-263
Glen Coulthard (PhD – University of Victoria) is a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and an associate professor in the First Nations and Indigenous Studies Program and the Department of Political Science. Glen has written and published numerous articles and chapters in the areas of Indi...Read more
John Paul Catungal
John Paul Catungal
Associate Member (Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice)
emailcatungal@mail.ubc.ca
phone604 822 9148
location_onSOWK 140
Dr. JP Catungal is Assistant Professor of Critical Racial and Ethnic Studies in the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice. A queer, first-generation Filipino-Canadian settler living in unceded Coast Salish territories, JP is an interdisciplinary scholar trained in the ne...Read more
Kavita Philip
Kavita Philip
Associate Member (English Language and Literatures)
emailkavita.philip@ubc.ca
Leila Harris
Leila Harris
Associate Member (Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability)
emaillharris@ires.ubc.ca
Co Director, Program on Water Governance
Professor, Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability
Professor, Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality & Social Justice
Leila M Harris is a Professor in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability and also in the Instit...Read more
Lori Daniels
Lori Daniels
Associate Member (Forestry)
emaillori.daniels@ubc.ca
phone604 822 3442
location_onFSC 3020
Lori Daniels is a professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences.
My research strives to advance fundamental scientific knowledge on forest dynamics, which is imperative for conserving and managing contemporary forests and adapting to global environmental change. My research char...Read more
Minelle Mahtani
Minelle Mahtani
Associate Member (Institute for Social Justice) | Senior Advisor, Provost for Racialized Faculty
phone604 827 3915
location_onBUCH Tower 1008
Brenda and David McLean Chair in Canadian Studies 2021 - 23
Senior Advisor to the Provost on Racialized Faculty
Minelle Mahtani is an Associate Professor at The Social Justice Institute, University of British Columbia. She has written “Mixed Race Amnesia: Resisting the Romanticiz...Read more
Miriam Grant
emailmiriam.grant@ubc.ca
Research Area
Cities, Economies, Transnational FlowsMy current research focuses upon the translocality and spatiality of lodging in urban Zimbabwe. My collaborator and I attempt to go beyond the rural/urban duality migration model to explore how lodging/private rental meets the aspirations of the translocal family regardless of locale.
Research Area
Cities, Economies, Transnational Flows
Nicholas Coops
Dr. Nicholas Coops is a faculty member in the Department of Forest Resources Management at UBC, and holds a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in remote sensing. He is also an affiliate faculty member of Oregon State University. Dr. Coops obtained his PhD from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in...Read more
Richard McCleary
Richard McCleary
Adjunct Professor
I am an aquatic ecologist and geomorphologist employed by the provincial government in Kamloops. My interests are in land use and water use effects on the ecological functions of streams. I enjoy helping to team graduate students with challenging issues for their research.
Tara Cookson
Tara Cookson
Associate Member (School of Public Policy and Global Affairs)
emailtcookson@mail.ubc.ca
Tara Patricia Cookson is Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Gender, Development, and Global Public Policy at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) and an Associate Member of the Geography Department.
Tom Koch
Tom Koch
Adjunct Professor
emailtom.koch@geog.ubc.ca
As an adjunct professor of geography with a multidisciplinary PHD in geography, ethics/philosophy and medicine I continue to work in three allied fields. First, issues of medical geography and the means by which epidemic and endemic diseases are understood spatially, primarily through mapping. This ...Read more
Emeriti
Alf Siemens
My research interests focus on pre-Hispanic wetland agriculture; cultural-historical geography of Mesoamerican tropical lowlands; and the recent impact of agricultural globalization. I am currently working on an environmental history of the Candelaria River Basin in southwestern Campeche, ...Read more
Cole Harris (1936 - 2022)
Cole Harris (1936 - 2022)
Professor Emeritus
phone604 822 2663
Research interests focus on European settlement in early Canada and on geographies of colonialism in early British Columbia.
Honours: Order of Canada; Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada; LL.D. honoris causa, York University
Dan Hiebert
I have two main research interests. The first, and most important for me, is international migration. More specifically, I look at the integration of newcomers in the labour and housing markets of cities, and how this changes their residential structure and social relations.
David Edgington
David Edgington
Professor Emeritus
phone604 822 2663
Research Area
Cities, Economies, Transnational Flows
Research Interest:
Geography of Japan and the Pacific Rim
Geography of International Trade, Overseas Investment and Multinational Corporations
Disaster Research in the Pacific Rim
Multiculturalism and Local Governments
David Edgington has degrees from the University of London (BSc E...Read more
Research Area
Cities, Economies, Transnational Flows
David Ley
David Ley
Professor Emeritus
phone604 822 2663
I have undertaken a number of projects on immigration to Canadian cities, including: immigration, housing and labour markets; offsetting immigration and domestic migration in world cities; immigration and poverty; immigrant churches as service hubs; multiculturalism and the governance of diversity. ...Read more
David McClung
David McClung
Professor Emeritus
phone604 822 3537
location_onGEOG 231
Research Area
Water, Ice, Landscapes
Snow and avalanche mechanics, avalanche dynamics and engineering, avalanche prediction and forecasting.
Dr. McClung holds the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Snow and Avalanche Science, supported by NSERC, Forest Renewal BC, Canadian Mountain Holidays, and UBC. The research program c...Read more
Research Area
Water, Ice, Landscapes
Derek Gregory
Derek Gregory
Peter Wall Distinguished Professor Emeritus
phone604 822 2663
My research has two interconnected themes. Most generally, I am interested in the spatial modalities of late modern war, where military violence, occupation and peace bleed into one another. My focus for these investigations is the Middle East, specifically Iraq and Israel/Palestine, but I also cons...Read more
Graeme Wynn
Graeme Wynn
Professor Emeritus | Principal UBC Emeritus College
phone604 822 2663
An environmental-historian/ historical geographer, I have wide-ranging research interests in Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Southern Africa. My UBC career included stints as Department Head, Associate Dean, and Principal of the UBC Emeritus College. I edited 2 major journals and a UBCPress series, and still lead various organizations....Read more
Greg Henry
I have been working to understand the consequences of environmental change, driven by the changing climate, on Arctic tundra ecosystems through long-term observations and field experiments. Studies of plant growth, phenology and reproduction, biodiversity responses, biotic interactions, evolutionary...Read more
Ken Denike
Ken Denike
Assistant Professor Emeritus
phone604 822 2663
Much of my early research focused on the trade off between equity and efficiency of delivery of public and private economic activity most notably in transportation and education. I applied spatial data analysis to develop public infrastructure such as the Expo Transit Line in metro Vancouv...Read more
Margaret North
Margaret North
Senior Instructor Emerita
phone604 822 2663
Research interests focus on vegetation change along the Peace River.
Michael Bovis
Research interests focus on hillslope geomorphology, and in particular mass movement phenomena in the Western Cordillera.
Former Head of the Department (2002-2005).
Research Area
Water, Ice, Landscapes
Michael Church
My research interests focus on the morphodynamics of rivers at all scales from steepland streams to large rivers. I am engaged in long-term studies of sediment transport and stability in Fraser River. Sediment transport is also studied in an experimental program conducted in the stream dyn...Read more
Research Area
Water, Ice, Landscapes
Olav Slaymaker
Olav Slaymaker
Professor Emeritus
phone604 822 2663
I study changing landscapes at local, regional and global scales, with emphasis on mountain environments. My current focus is on protected areas in Canada, with recent book chapters on protected areas in western (2017) and eastern Canada (2020).
Richard Copley
Research interests focus on astronomical influences on the location and layout of sacred sites in the Sinitic world.
Robert North
Robert North
Associate Professor Emeritus
phone604 822 2663
Research interests focus on the changing economic geography of the ex-Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Former Associate Head of the Department (1998-2001)
Terence McGee
I am enjoying retirement in Victoria and spending time with my wife, Lori and my grandchildren . I can be reached through email and would love to hear from previous students and colleagues.
Former Director of the Institute of Asian Research, UBC (1978-1992; July 1995 - December 1998)....Read more
Tim Oke
Research interests focus on urban climate and the energy and water balances of cities.
Former Head of the Department (1991-1996).
Honours: Order of Canada; Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada