In February and March, our department was recognized for its success on multiple levels.
Dr. Jenna Loyd, a human geography professor, was awarded the prestigious 2025-2026 Vilas associate award. This award is presented to faculty who are completing “new and ongoing research of the highest quality and significance.” This year, Dr. Loyd is one of twenty tenure track assistant professors campus-wide to receive this award and the research support that it entails.
Dr. Loyd received this award for an ongoing body of work titled “Legal Geographies of Migrant Health on a Warming Planet”. This research explores the unequal effects on human health from anthropogenic climate change as it is increasingly understood as a magnifier of existing societal and economic inequities. In describing the focus of this research, Dr. Loyd writes, “immigrants are among the groups who are known to be vulnerable to the health harms of climate change, but why? In general, immigration law acts as a determinant of health by how it shapes labor markets, conditions of work and pay, access to health care and other social services. Moreover, immigration law and its enforcement has been shaped by racialized histories of and current struggles over exclusion. As heat and heat waves increase, immigrants who work in sectors like agriculture and construction, which rely on immigrant workforces, are put at increased risk. Because immigration reform and federal heat regulation have been stalled for decades, many states and municipalities across the country have passed immigrant-specific legislation and heat protections.” Dr. Loyd’s study will work to understand U.S immigration law in the context of climate change in Colorado, Illinois and Texas to demonstrate the indivisibility of climate and migrant justice. Dr. Loyd is beyond grateful for the support that the Vilas associates award will provide for this research.
Dr. Lisa Bhungalia received the Glenda Laws award from the American Association of Geographers. This award is named in memory of Glenda Laws, a geographer who brought energy and enthusiasm to her work on issues of social justice and social policy, and recognizes outstanding contributions to geographic research on social issues.
Two of our graduate students were lauded for their teaching abilities—Lauren Gerlowski and Hannah Kass were both selected as recipients of a 2024-25 Campus-Wide Teaching Assistant Award. Both of these talented grad students were awarded the Advanced Achievement in Teaching Award, which recognizes TAs with four or more semesters of teaching experience at UW–Madison who are not in the final year of a PhD.
Our undergraduates have also been receiving accolades. Three students have been invited to join Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society, recognizing excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Congrats to Aly Fry, Geography major; Shaelee Wallner, a People-Environment Geography major; and Marek Higley, a Human Geography and Cartography/GIS double major.
Undergraduate student Lauren Wunderlich received the 2024 Damon Anderson Memorial Scholarship from the Wisconsin Land Information Association. This scholarship is given to students who are future leaders in land information science. Lauren, a junior who’s studying Cartography and GIS, Human Geography, Environmental Studies and Integrative Design of Natural and Built Environments, certainly fits that bill!
