Research in the department is diverse reflecting its commitment to cover the breadth of geography with research activity centered around the poles of cartography/GIS and physical, human, people-environment geographies. Our faculty are major contributors to the development of new theory, methods, and empirical understandings of human society and of the broader biophysical world in the present to the distant past. Research in the department span the academic divisions on campus with activities ranging from physical geography fieldwork, laboratory analyses, social surveys, ethnography, archival work, cartographic design, modeling, and big data science. Consistent with the Wisconsin Idea, much of our work blurs the boundaries between research and community-engaged outreach not only through participatory action research conducted by department members in their own research but through units whose missions combine research and outreach such as the State Cartographer’s Office, History of Cartography, Map Library, and the Cartography Library. Within these units, faculty-led lab groups, and less formal collaborations, joint faculty-staff- student research is an emphasis, creating spaces of mutual learning and training. We are proud of the research accomplishments of our undergraduate and graduate students and are committed to expand our support for student research.
