Faculty and Staff

Sections below
on this page

  Full-Time Faculty

  Adjunct Faculty

  Part-Time Faculty

  Retired Faculty

  Staff

See contact information in listings below

General Inquiries
Ms. Nicole Luttrell, Administrative Assistant
geography@smu.ca

Department Chairperson
Dr. Philip Giles (2022-25)

Honours in Geography Program Coordinator
Dr. Philip Giles (ongoing)

M.A. in Geography Program Coordinator

Dr. Mathew Novak (2022-25)

Bachelor of Environmental Studies
Program Coordinator
Dr. Jason Grek-Martin (2023-26)

Full-Time Faculty


cconrad@smu.ca

Faculty profile page

Professor

Ph.D. (Wilfrid Laurier, 1999)

My research background is in community-based environmental monitoring and water security. As more recent research shifted to water and food security in West Africa, particularly The Gambia, new questions around environmental migrants and migration in general have emerged. I am now working on irregular migration in West Africa, migration as a rite of passage, and climate change on the African continent.

Expertise

  • Perceptions of climate change and environmental change
  • Irregular migration in Africa
  • Climate change and migration
  • Water security


philip.giles@smu.ca

Professor

Ph.D. (Calgary, 1996)

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies Chairperson (2022-25)

I am a physical geographer specializing in geomorphology. My current research focuses on applying processing and analysis of digital elevation models and satellite images to study the dynamics of humid-temperate alluvial fans.

I am also interested in coastal sand dune morphology and dynamics.

Expertise

  • Morphology of alluvial fans
  • Morphometric analysis of digital elevation models
  • Geomorphological analysis of remotely-sensed images
  • Coastal sand dunes


jason.grekmartin@smu.ca

Associate Professor

Ph.D. (Queens, 2009)

Bachelor of Environmental Studies Program Coordinator (2023-26)

I am an historical-cultural geographer with broad interests in how places are constructed, contested, and imbued with complex meanings by individuals and communities. My current research explores the processes of place-making primarily in the context of travel and tourism to heritage sites, especially those with a dark past. In addition, I am interested in exploring how cultural landscapes of nature are conceptualized and materialized.

Expertise

  • Sites of difficult heritage and contested memoryscapes
  • Historical and cultural geographies of tourism in Nova Scotia and beyond
  • Nature, place, and meaning in Halifax parks


min-jung.kwak@smu.ca

Associate Professor

Ph.D. (British Columbia, 2008)

I am an economic and social geographer with broad interests in immigration and settlement studies. I have conducted research projects on the international education industry, immigrant entrepreneurship, and transnational migrant family experiences. My current research focuses on accessibility and transnational dimensions of immigrant healthcare services in major Canadian cities, having developed significant research partnerships with Korean-Canadian and Chinese-Canadian communities.

Expertise

  • Globalization and education migration
  • Immigrant entrepreneurship
  • Immigrant healthcare services


m.novak@smu.ca

Associate Professor

Ph.D. (Western Ontario, 2010)

M.A. in Geography Program Coordinator (2022-25)

My research focuses on the development of the urban landscape, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map patterns and processes of urban change.

Underlying my research is the understanding that the built environment is shaped by and simultaneously a shaper of human activity; the urban landscape can be read as an indicator of human culture and modified to influence activities of its inhabitants.

Expertise

  • Urban planning and development
  • Retail geography
  • The built environment and urban morphology


cristian.suteanu@smu.ca

Faculty profile page

Professor

Ph.D. (Bucharest, 1997)

My major research question is: How do we make sense of the environment?

I am applying models and methods of analysis, and I am developing new ones, to study complex systems involved in the dynamics of climate, natural hazards, and renewable  energy.

At the same time, I am focusing on aspects of complex natural systems that reveal insights into our understanding of reality.

Expertise

  • Environmental systems analysis and modeling
  • Information processes involved in our interaction with the environment


dvanproo@smu.ca

TransCoastal Adaptations Centre for Nature-Based Solutions
transcoastaladaptations.com

Professor

Ph.D. (Guelph, 2001), FRSC, FRCGS

As a coastal geomorphologist, I am interested
in understanding how biophysical processes of coastal ecosystems respond to natural and anthropogenic drivers of change, and how ecosystem-based adaptation tools and processes can be applied in temperate and tropical regions.

Expertise

  • Coastal climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation
  • Coastal geomorphology and morphodynamics
  • Ecosystem-based restoration
  • Salt marsh biophysical processes
  • Geomatics and UAVs

Adjunct Faculty


Peter Bush profile image

peter.bush@smu.ca

Ph.D. (Western Ontario, 2007)

Website

Expertise

  • Landscape ecology
  • Old-growth forests
  • Geomatics
  • Protected areas

Karen Harper Profile image

karen.harper@smu.ca

Ph.D. (Alberta, 1999)

Website

Expertise

  • Plant biogeography
  • Landscape ecology
  • Forest edges, fragmentation and conservation
  • Spatial pattern and structural diversity of plant communities


khan.rahaman@smu.ca

Ph.D. (Tokyo, 2006, and Calgary, 2018)

Expertise

  • Climate change modeling, impacts, and vulnerability assessment
  • Application of GIS and Remote Sensing in local warming modeling, disaster impacts and management
  • Environmental management, sustainability, and urban health
  • Urban built environment, pedestrianization, and non-motorized transportation planning

hm.rahman@mail.mcgill.ca

Ph.D. (McGill, 2018)

Expertise

  • Climate vulnerability and adaptation
  • Sustainable natural resource management
  • Nature-based solutions
  • Sustainable rural development

kate.sherren@dal.ca

Ph.D. (Australian National, 2008)

Expertise

  • Rural social science
  • Sustainability transitions
  • Landscape change
  • Visual and spatial method

Part-Time Faculty


Trevor Adams

trevor.adams@smu.ca

Ph.D. (Calgary, 2013)

Expertise

  • Weather and climate
  • Natural hazards
  • Urban geography
  • Rural geography

Jillian Bambrick Banks photo

Jill.Banks@smu.ca


Ph.D. (Louisiana State, 2016)

Expertise

  • Human-environment interaction
  • Climate change
  • Holocene sedimentation and palynology
  • Quaternary environments
  •  

Marie Fox

marie.fox@smu.ca

M.A. (Saint Mary's, 2022)

Expertise

  • Cultural geography
  • Commemorative landscapes
  • Sites of contested heritage
  • People-environment relationships

Patrick Larter

Patrick.Larter@smu.ca


M.A. (Saint Mary's, 2017)

Expertise

  • Place and health geography
  • Cultural geography
  • Geography and environmental conservation

Paul Maher

paul.maher@smu.ca

MPLAN (Dalhousie 2013)
  • Climate change visualizations and community engagement
  • Systems thinking and sustainable development goals (SDGs)
  • Urban and suburban development
  • Complete streets and active transportation planning

Patricia Matsumoto

patricia.matsumoto@smu.ca

Ph.D. (Sao Paulo State, 2019)

Expertise

  • Health geography
  • Spatial analysis
  • Cartography
  • Geographic information systems
  • Decision-making support

Amy Siciliano

amy.siciliano@smu.ca

Ph.D. (Toronto, 2010)

Expertise

  • Intersection of urban and natural systems
  • Post-war suburbs
  • Social geography
  • Critical cartography

Stefanie Slaunwhite

stefanie.slaunwhite@smu.ca

M.A. (Saint Mary's)
Ph.D. candidate (UNB)

Expertise

  • Atlantic Canada
  • History of the Atlantic Canada region
  • Social history of medicine
  • History of disability

Robin Willcocks Musselman


robin.willcocks.musselman@smu.ca

M.E.S. (Dalhousie, 2005)
Ph.D. candidate (Dalhousie)

  • Environmental education
  • Environmental sustainability

Retired Faculty

 

Professor Emeritus

(1939 - 2017)

Dr. Robert J. McCalla

Professor Emeritus

Ph.D. (Hull, 1975)

Expertise

  • Economic
  • Transportation
  • Ports
  • Shipping

GFTFImage5

hugh.millward@smu.ca

Professor Emeritus

Ph.D. (Western Ontario, 1975)

Expertise

  • Time and location of urban walking activity
  • Land-use issues in urban and peri-urban areas
  • School siting and travel-to-school


Associate Professor

M.A. (Alberta, 1967)

Expertise

  • Historical-cultural geography
  • Cultural ecology
  • Literary geography
  • Tourism geography

Staff

greg.baker@smu.ca

B.A. (Saint Mary's, 2004)
Dip. Digital Cartography (COGS, 2001)

Expertise

  • Geographic Information Systems
  • Surveying
  • Cartography
  • Photogrammetry

Contact us

Faculty of Arts
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
Mailing address:
923 Robie Street
Halifax, NS
B3H 3C3

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