Welcome to our Department
Knowledge of Geography continues its increased significance around the world as more and more of our problems are global issues that involve location. To name only a few, climate change, social unrest, migration, refugee movements, hunger, public health and water quality and quantity, all impact places differently and depend on location and each location's characteristics. Joseph Kerski's recent article from Directions magazine is a great summary of why and how geography matters to you, and has great links to dig further as you make a decision on majoring in Geography.
The Department offers the B.A. in Geography, the B.S. in Meteorology, and the M.S. in Geography. We also participate in the College of Natural Resources and Environment doctoral program in Geospatial and Environmental Analysis.
Founded in 1975, the Geography Department at Virginia Tech is part of the College of Natural Resources and Environment (CNRE). Department offices, labs, and facilities are located in Major Williams Hall in the Upper Quad area of the Virginia Tech Campus (building #7 grid M3).
News
Dr. Stephanie Zick, an expert on tropical storms, was featured on WFXR discussing Hurricane Florence.
Alumnus James Morrow (BS Meteorology ’14), a weather forecaster in the Raleigh National Weather Service office, was interviewed on CTV about the statue of Hurricane Florence as it approaches the Carolina coast.
Dr. Thomas Pingel is appointed associate professor: Dr. Thomas Pingel joins the department this fall as an associate professor. Dr. Pingel previously was at Northern Illinois University. He is specializes in geospatial theory and applications of near earth and terrestrial remote sensing to problems in human geography. His innovative work and teaching involve LiDAR, UAV-based photogrammetry, and 2D/3D immersive representations. Dr. Pingel is teaching a course on geovisualization this fall.
Dr. Timothy Baird promotion: The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors recently approved Dr. Timothy Baird’s application for promotion and tenure. Dr. Baird’s promotion to associate professor with tenure is effective July 1, 2018. Congratulations to Dr. Baird.
Congratulations to Dr. Tim Baird, who received official word that he has received a grant from the National Science Foundation (GSS) to begin work on the project, “The effects of mobile phones on gendered social networks, decision-making and vulnerability”. The project team is T. Baird (PI), E. Woodhouse, J.T. McCabe.
This Meteorology Club poster won student chapter poster of the year at the AMS conference in Seattle in Jan 2017
Class of 2016: Callie Lambert charts her own path at Virginia Tech
Stephanie Zick has had a publication in the Annals of the AAG recently: Zick, S. E., and C. J. Matyas, 2016: A Shape Metric Methodology for Studying the Evolving Geometries of Synoptic-Scale Precipitation in Tropical Cyclones, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, doi: 10.1080/24694452.2016.1206460.
Education and experience leads Virginia Tech meteorology student to mountaintop internship: Tim Greene spends the summer atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
2016 MTRG grad Frances Peyton has just accepted a job as the weekend meteorologist at WVVA in Bluefield, W.Va.
Trevor White's graduate program which has led him to a "dream job" and the Center for Severe Weather Research is profiled in an article in the Roanoke Times.
Anamaria Bukvic, research professor in the department was recently awarded a grant to study A Human-Centered Computational Framework for Urban and Community Design of Resilient Coastal Cities, along with colleagues from Virginia Tech and the Univeristy of Miami by the NSF’s Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP) program.
Anne Gale, a metoeorlogy major in the department has just published a paper: Retreating Ice: The Beginnings of Discovery
Stephanie Zick shares her expertise about Hurricane Matthew via WSLS TV: Virginia Tech experts assess Hurricane Matthew damage and in Forbes Magazine in “Why The 'Blob' East Of Hurricane Matthew's Eye Should Concern Us,” Forbes, 3 October 2016.
M.S. Geography student Julia Sherry was recently awarded the WaterSmart Innovations Conference Scholarship from the Universities Council on Water Resources
