From the Dean’s Office

I feel so fortunate to be the Dean of a Faculty in which the Department of Geography resides. Geography continues to be a leader in our faculty on actions toward equity, inclusivity and diversity, through its recent hires, pro-active focused discussions, and scholarship. We have many good news stories in Geography. The Geography department has launched a new minor in GIS science, and hopes to deliver a new minor in Climate Change and Society. Additionally, the Geography department is working on a new undergraduate major in Urban Studies, responding to strong student interest. At the convocation in June 2020, our new Ph.D. graduate Taylor Anderson in the Department of Geography was awarded a prestigious Governor General's Gold Medal (Supervisor Suzana Dragicevic).  Tara Holland became our Faculty’s Teaching Fellow this past year, and continues to enrich the learning and craft of teaching across the faculty, particularly for on-line learning.

Despite a demanding year for switching to remote teaching, rescheduling research activities, and managing the complications of working from home, faculty in Geography continue to produce relevant, provocative and stellar scholarship.  By way of example, Valorie Crooks and Nadine Schuurman are developing maps to identify geographic regions that are at high risk for COVID infection. Rosemary Collard is an author on an important report for the Centre for Policy Alternatives on the causes of the caribou decline. Paul Kingsbury has a new book, A Place More Void, that explores how void permeates geographical thinking, and Nick Hedley is at the forefront of scientific data visualization for partners such as the Vancouver Aquarium, municipal governments, and the Museum of Vancouver.