Assistant Professor-in-Residence Dan Wanyama and a group of his closest friends and colleagues have collaborated to share their expertise with sustainability and conservation scholars and specialists in Africa. They developed a free advanced Geographic Information System (GIS) training program that is attracting interest from around the globe.
The full story can be found here: today.uconn.edu/2025/09/snapshot-a-unique-collaboration-helps-boost-conservation-with-gis-training
Congratulations to Stacy Maddern for his project on building a community garden in the Newhallville neighborhood of New Haven. Below are links for news stories about the work Professor Maddern has been doing in New Haven:
https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/newhallville_garden
https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/a-dream-takes-root-on-shelton-avenue
Prof. Debs Ghosh is invited to give a colloquium talk at the Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences, UMass Amherst, on Friday, Sept 19th.
The title of her talk is “Listening to Communities, Measuring Inequities: A New Index of Structural Racism and Discrimination”
Google Street View images are digital snapshots of real streets, widely used for navigation and urban planning. Congcong Miao, a PhD student in GSCU, recently published a study in Journal of Transport Geography analyzing how people’s perceptions of street design affect transport safety. The study suggests emotional reactions to streetscapes can lead to non-motorist crashes and could help cities predict danger zones and design safer roads.
The study has been covered by several media outlets, including State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI) and Streetsblog USA.
Congratulations to Professor Debs Ghosh for receiving the InCHIP Excellence Award for Research on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and Health Outcomes of Racism.
Congratulations to 
Peter Chen for receiving the UConn College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (CLAS) 2025 Climate, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Goals Award. Peter’s work leading DEI programs funded by CLAS have been examples for efforts he is now leading at the Graduate School.
This award is well deserved. We thank you for your leadership.
GSCU faculty and students were very active at the 2025 AAG conference in Detroit. Below are some notable items from UConn geographers.
Awards and Competitions
Specialty Group Election Outcomes
Congratulations to GIS major Katherine Patrick and UCS minor Rafe Kimball for each receiving a 2025 Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) Award.
Katherine will work with faculty mentor Dr. Dan Wanyama on a project titled: Proposing Spatially Explicit Land Suitability Models for Orphan Crops to Support Food Security Initiatives in East Africa.
Rafe Kimball will work with faculty mentor Dr. Phil Birge-Liberman on a project titled: Examining The Perceived Nutritional Environment in the North End of Hartford.
The SURF program is jointly sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research, the Provost’s Office, the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Honors Program, donors to the university, and the Deans of the Schools and Colleges.
Congratulations to Shahriyar Parvez for earning a 2025 AAG Marble Fund Award for Innovative Master’s Research in Quantitative Geography.
This award recognizes excellence in academic performance for the best research in quantitative geography leading to the Master’s degree.
Read more about the Marble Fund Award on the AAG website.
The Graduate School has developed the Network for Enriched Mentorship (NEM) program to provide individualized mentorship for graduate students. GSCU faculty member Dr. Peter Chen is directing the program.
Read the full story on UConn Today.
Thanks to the GSCU graduate student Elaina Hancock for writing the story.