Department of Geography, Environment, & Sustainability

Department of Geography, Environment, & Sustainability

Geography prepares students to explore and understand cultural, bio‐physical, and geospatial environments, and their interactions and transformations, thereby empowering our students to shape a just and sustainable world.

Major & MinorCourses

Upcoming Courses

Sloth Rescue!

University of Richmond Geography professor, Dr. David Salisbury, rescued a three-toed sloth while in the Amazon Rainforest. While sloths can swim, the current in the Jurua River in Peru was too strong at the time for the sloth to make it safely across.

2024 Geography award winners

Student Award Winners

We’re pleased to recognize our 2024 departmental award winners:

Outstanding Senior Geographer: Matteo Gonzalez

Exemplary Geography Research Award: Shaoting Wen

Exemplary Service Award: Eli Beech-Brown

Outstanding Service to the Spatial Analysis Lab: Caitlin Fay

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Geography Trip 2022

Experiential Learning

The Department of Geography, Environment, and Sustainability prepares students to explore and understand cultural, bio‐physical, and geospatial environments, and their interactions and transformations, thereby empowering our students to shape a just and sustainable world. Geography professors offer exciting, experiential courses on a range of important issues like global climate change, industrialization, resource management, agricultural change, urbanization, land use, deforestation, and hydrology. Students will learn to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related geospatial technologies to prepare them for exciting employment and research opportunities in many different fields.

Global Environment Speaker Series

Speaker Series

Each year the Department of Geography, Environment, & Sustainability, the Environmental Studies Program, and Global Studies Program partner to bring noteworthy speakers and scholars to Richmond to present lectures related to our global environment. All events are free and open to the public.

Upcoming Events

Faculty and Staff Highlights

Dr. Kyle Redican
Redican and Undergraduate Student Published

Kyle Redican, teaching faculty of geography, environment, & sustainability and director of the Spatial Analysis Lab, along with undergraduate Matteo Gonzalez, ‘24, and Beth Zizzamia, Spatial Analysis Lab GIS operations manager, published “Assessing ChatGPT for GIS education and assignment creation” in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education.

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Beth Zizzamia
Zizzamia and Undergraduate Student Published

Beth Zizzamia, Spatial Analysis Lab GIS operations manager, along with undergraduate Matteo Gonzalez, ‘24, and Kyle Redican, teaching faculty of geography, environment, & sustainability and director of the Spatial Analysis Lab, published “Assessing ChatGPT for GIS education and assignment creation” in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education.

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Dr. Todd Lookingbill
Lookingbill Published

Todd Lookingbill, professor of geography, environment, & sustainability, published “A Heat Emergency: Urban Heat Exposure and Access to Refuge in Richmond, VA” in GeoHealth.

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Dr. Todd Lookingbill
Lookingbill and Undergraduate Students Published

Todd Lookingbill, professor of geography, environment, & sustainability, along with undergraduates Jack DuPuy, ’25, Ellery Jacobs, ’25, Matteo Gonzalez, ’24, and Tihomir S. Kostadinov, ’02 published "A 20-Year Ecotone Study of Pacific Northwest Mountain Forest Vulnerability to Changing Snow Conditions" in Land.

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Celebrating Class of 2024
  • groupwGlobe
  • WenAward
  • GonzalezAward
  • FayAward
  • beech-BrownAward
  • 4awardwinners

Scholarship Repository Readership

The University of Richmond's Scholarship Repository shares faculty publications with a world-wide audience. The map below shows where articles from geography faculty are being read around the globe.

Contact Us

Mailing address:
Department of Geography, Environment, & Sustainability
Carole Weinstein International Center, 3rd Floor
211 Richmond Way
University of Richmond, Virginia  23173

Phone: (804) 287-8661
Fax: (804) 484-1577

Spatial Analysis Laboratory: (804) 484-1518

Department Chair:  David Salisbury
Major Advisors: Mary Finley-Brook, Todd Lookingbill, Kyle RedicanDavid Salisbury, and Stephanie Spera
Academic Administrative Specialist: Nancy Propst

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