2025-2026 UH Mānoa Catalog [DRAFT]
Department of Geography and Environment
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 Return to: College of Social Sciences
College of Social Sciences
Saunders Hall 445
2424 Maile Way
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: (808) 956-8465
Fax: (808) 956-3512
Email: uhmgeog@hawaii.edu
Web: geography.manoa.hawaii.edu/
Faculty
*R. Jones, PhD (Chair)—political geography, globalization, borders, sovereign state system, nationalism, South Asia
*D. Beilman, PhD—biogeography, long-term ecology, terrestrial carbon accumulation, climate change
*Q. Chen, PhD—remote sensing, geographic information systems, geostatistics, spatially-explicit modeling
P. Gupta, PhD—feminist geography, racial capitalism, labor South Asia
*H. Jiang, PhD—cultural geography, environment, perception of nature, China
*Y. Jiang, PhD—GIS, spatial data, mobility, smart city
*A. Kagawa-Viviani, PhD—ecohydrology, restoration, water resources
*M. Karides, PhD—island studies, feminisms, political economy
*C. Mora, PhD—interlinks between biodiversity patterns, processes, threats and human welfare
*M. Mostafanezhad, PhD—cultural politics of tourism, politics of consumption, Thailand
*O. Myadar, PhD—forced mobility, displacement, nomadism
*K. Suryanata, PhD—political ecology, agrarian change, natural resource management, Southeast Asia
*B. Szuster, PhD—coastal resource management, environmental impacts assessment, marine recreation, Thailand
Emeritus Faculty
R. Fuchs, PhD—climate change and adaptation, Asian cities
G. Fuller, PhD—population growth, geography of fertility
N. Lewis, PhD—medical geography
B. Murton, PhD—human geography, indigenous studies
M. Ridgley, PhD—resource management
A. Rieser, PhD—human geography of oceans
L. Wester, PhD—biogeography, Southeast Asia
Adjunct Faculty
D. Eisinger, PhD—atmospheric pollution
B. Gomez, PhD—geomorphology
K. M. Woods, PhD—political ecology, geography of war and resources
Cooperating Graduate Faculty
L. Bremer, PhD—conservation, social-ecological systems, water resources, Hawaiʻi
E. Franklin, PhD—marine ecology, coral reefs, fish and fisheries, computational and quantitative methods, invasive species
M. D. Merlin, PhD—biogeography, natural history of Hawaiʻi
D. Spencer, PhD—sustainable tourism policy, planning and management
Affiliate Graduate Faculty
H. Diaz, PhD—global climate research, atmospheric conditions
M. Fisher, PhD—political ecology, conservation, Southeast Asia
J. Fox, PhD—social forestry, resources, Southeast Asia
S. Kandikuppa, PhD—rural livelihoods, common pool resources, financial well being and inclusion, collective action and institutions
L. Kelley, PhD—political ecology, land use, remote sensing
L. Mei-Singh, PhD—environment, racial capitalism, indigeneity, and militarism
M. L. Yong, PhD—water governance, political ecology, nature-society, environmental justice, Mekong region/Southeast Asia
* Graduate Faculty
The Academic Program
Geography and Environment (GEO) provides a broad and flexible academic program that explores the human and environmental systems that shape the surface of the Earth. The discipline investigates the interaction of culture, society, ecology and physical environments that characterize particular places and studies how these relationships vary across space. The undergraduate program at UH Mānoa focuses on three interlocking subdisciplines: human geography, environmental geography, and geographic technologies. Human geography investigates the cultural, economic, and political processes that shape human experiences on the Earth; the relationship between the environment, society, and culture; and the nature of place in the Asia-Pacific region. Environmental geography engages in a systematic study of the Earth’s physical environment (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere) and considers the challenges associated with natural resource management and global environmental change. Geographic technologies include the study of cartography, geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing science.
Students who study geography and environment obtain a holistic understanding of the world and a set of methodological tools that can be applied to a wide range of domestic and international career opportunities. Geographers are involved in environmental planning, natural resource management and social policy development with all levels of government, private firms, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and international agencies. Hawaiʻi’s unique historical, socio-cultural and environmental context also provides a fascinating setting for geographical investigations into the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Undergraduate Study
Please see “Programs” section below for more information about our undergraduate programs.
Graduate Study
The department offers programs of graduate study and research leading to the MA and PhD degrees. Faculty interests and supporting strengths of UH Mānoa provide advantages for study of the following general topics: (a) environmental studies and policies; and (b) resource management and systems.
Applicants are expected to have a broad-based undergraduate education encompassing basic courses in the physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities. They should have a firm grasp of the fundamentals of environmental and human geography and of basic cartographic and quantitative techniques. Intended candidates for the MA or PhD need not have an undergraduate major in geography; students from related fields are welcome, but any subject-area weakness must be remedied by course work.
Holders of graduate degrees in geography are employed in research and administrative positions in county, state, federal, and international agencies; research positions in private business, especially consulting firms; and teaching positions in secondary schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities.
ProgramsBachelor’sMaster’sDoctorateUndergraduate CertificateGraduate CertificateMinorCombined
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