Department Seminar Series

Spring 2023 GES Seminar Series

Weds., Feb. 8, 12 noon – 1 p.m., WebEx

Dr. Keith Eshleman, Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Detecting and Understanding Hydrologic Change in Developing Watersheds: Role of Environmental Site Design

Friday., Feb. 24, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m., WebEx

Dr. Katherine McKittrick, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Black Studies, Departments of Gender Studies and Geography, Queen’s University

Black Geographies, Still

Weds., Mar. 8, 12 noon – 1 p.m., Sondheim 001 and WebEx

Cheryl Knott, Research Director, Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance – Jacob France Institute (in person and virtual)

Vital Signs: Indicators for Measuring Neighborhood Quality of Life

YouTube Recording

Weds., Mar. 15, 12 noon – 1 p.m., Sondheim 001 and WebEx

Isabel Dastvan, SEI Climate Corps Sustainability Fellow, UMBC Office of Sustainability

Developing an Invasive Species Management Plan for UMBC’s Campus

YouTube Recording

Weds., Mar. 29, 12 noon – 1 p.m., WebEx

Dr. Andrea Roberts, Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning and Co-Director, Center for Cultural Landscapes, School of Architecture, University of Virginia, Founder of The Texas Freedom Colonies Project

Co-Creating Counternarratives: Foundations for Just Planning & Preservation

Weds. Apr. 5, 12 noon – 1 p.m., Sondheim 001 and WebEx

Dr. Matthew Baker, Professor, GES, and Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, UMBC

Seeing Forests for the Trees: Distinguishing Patches of Forest Within Urban Tree Canopy

YouTube Recording

Weds., Apr. 12, 12 noon – 1 p.m., Public Policy 105, WebEx

Ohad Paris, GES PhD defense seminar

Weds., Apr. 19, 12 noon – 1 p.m., WebEx

Dr. Lucy Hutyra, Professor, Department of Earth & Environment and Director, Biogeosciences Program, Boston University

Impacts of Urbanization & Landscape Fragmentation on the Carbon Cycle

YouTube Recording

Tues., Apr. 25, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Chat w/ Grad Students – Sondheim 210; 4 p.m. – 5 p.m. Seminar – Commons 329 and on WebEx

Dr. Thomas Panagopoulos, Professor, Universidade do Algarve in Portugal

Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Change

Weds., Apr. 26, 12 noon – 1 p.m. – in person in Sondheim 001 and on WebEx

Dr. Charles Ichoku, Professor, GES and Director, GESTAR II, UMBC

In search of Lake Chad: Africa’s Great Lake

YouTube Recording

Weds., May 3, 12 noon – 1 p.m., in-person at ILSB 101 and on WebEx

Dr. Kurt Stephenson, Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech, and

Dr. Denice Wardrop, Research Professor, Geography, Penn State University and Director, Chesapeake Research Consortium

Comprehensive Evaluation of Chesapeake Bay Response to Water Quality Efforts: Gaps, Uncertainties, and Policy Implications

YouTube Recording

Weds., May 10, 12 noon – 1 p.m., WebEx

Dr. Rosemary Knight,  Professor of Geophysics of Earth System Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University

Harnessing the Power of Geophysical Imaging to Recharge California’s Groundwater

YouTube Recording

(to see a list of previous Department Seminars click here)

View Upcoming Events

GES Seminar: How Cool Are Your Trees? Heat and Vegetation in Cities

Urban heat, tree canopy, and human scale cooling in cities.

Location

Sondheim Hall : 001 (Cartography Lab)

Date & Time

March 5, 2026, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Description

How Cool Are Your Trees? Heat and Vegetation in Cities Every year people die because of extreme heat. Trees help combat the lethality of an increasingly warm planet, where cities are even...

Art–Sci Fire Conversation: “There’s No Fire Season; It’s Fire Year”

A public art and climate science conversation on wildfires.

Location

Off Campus : The Peale

Date & Time

November 22, 2025, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Description

Join climate scientist Dr Charles Ichoku and interdisciplinary artist Timothy Nohe for an art and science conversation on our new era of "fire year." As wildfires grow more frequent, more...

Chaotic Economies of Confinement: Profit, Dependency, and Extraction in U.S. Immigration Detention

Disrupting the financial logics of U.S. detention growth

Location

Library and Gallery, Albin O. Kuhn : Light reception to follow

Date & Time

November 20, 2025, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Description

Speaker:  Nancy Hiemstra Stony Brook University Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Abstract: Drawing on two decades of research, this presentation examines how the U.S. detention system...
Chaotic Economies of Confinement: Profit, Dependency, and Extraction in U.S. Immigration Detention

GES Balloon Launch Across Campus

Experience campus from above with our GES 286 balloon flight

Location

On Campus : Centered on the Quad

Date & Time

November 19, 2025, 9:15 am – 10:30 am

Description

Join us tomorrow morning for a special GES 286 balloon launch across campus. Weather balloons equipped with downward-facing cameras will be floating up to 450 feet above campus as students collect...