Biogeography is the study of the changing distributions of species and groups of species in space and time, and the physical, biological, and cultural factors that affect distribution patterns. Four faculty members, Sally Horn, Henri Grissino-Mayer, Liem Tran, and Lydia Pulsipher, conduct research related to the biogeography of wild and cultivated plant species, and related [...]
The newly established Center for Quaternary Paleoclimate Research (CQPR) at the University of Tennessee is a strategic investment to increase external funding by building a community of scholars pursuing research focused on the climates and environments of the Quaternary period. The Quaternary began ca. 2.5 million years ago and includes the “Ice Ages” of the [...]
Research on paleoclimate and paleoenvironments contributes to answering fundamental questions about the functioning of Earth’s climate system, “natural” disturbance regimes in ecosystems, and the role of humans in changing the environment, and has important applications in designing conservation and land-management plans. Unraveling the past history of world environments also improves our knowledge of future global [...]
Cultural/historical geographers at Tennessee are actively engaged in research in areas of folk culture, Appalachia, population migrations, Europe, and other settlement topics. Micheline van Riemsdijk is interested in contemporary international migration and questions of belonging and inclusion. She is committed to a social justice agenda that investigates the distribution of society’s benefits and burdens and [...]
The Geographic Information Science group is a research unit in the Department of Geography, College of Art and Sciences. Promoting interdisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach, the GIS group has extensive collaboration with other UT units, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and various international, federal, and state agencies. Faculty Members Ralston, Bruce, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus Shaw, Shih-Lung, [...]
At Tennessee a major focus of attention has been the American South including Appalachia. At Tennessee a major focus of attention has been the American South including Appalachia. Within this study region, geographers at Tennessee have pursued their topical interests in material folk culture. Ron Kalafsky is investigation the industrial development of the South and [...]
Geomorphology is the study of landforms and the processes that shape them. Soils are byproducts and archives of landform evolution as well as regulators and recorders of surface and near-surface environmental conditions. Five faculty members, Carol Harden, Liem Tran, Yingkui Li, Sally Horn, and Henri Grissino-Mayer, conduct research in process geomorphology (fluvial, hillslope, glacial) and/or [...]
Landscapes change as human activities change or persist over time. These dynamics, in turn, affect decisions about land use and environmental management. Carol Harden, Liem Tran, Yingkui Li, and their students conduct research to identify, characterize, and model environmental effects of human activity and land-use change. Much of their research focuses on water resources, and [...]
The Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment’s (ISSE) multidisciplinary research staff comprises economists, biologists, ecologists, hydrologists, political scientists, planners, educators, communicators, chemists, engineers, accountants, soil scientists, sociologists, geographers, information-systems specialists, and historians. A 2007 New York Times article cites ISSE as an example of the trend toward consolidating multidisciplinary environmental research within free-standing centers [...]
Population geographers study the spatial distributions and political, social and economic aspects of populations. Population geography is a subsection of human geography that studies issues related to fertility, mortality and migration, including health and disease, population change, regional and international migration, and internally displaced persons and refugees. Micheline van Riemsdijk is interested in international labor [...]
