News & Events

Nov. 18, 2026

Applied Drone Research in Nova Scotia Forest Management

Geograph Speaker Series
Jamie Ring, Forest Modelling Specialist
Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources

Advancements in drone technology provide an opportunity to collect high-resolution data that could transform forest management planning, monitoring, and ecosystem research in Nova Scotia’s complex, mixed-species Acadian forest. With a focus on applied research, novel application and integration of drone-based tools into forest management and barriers to implementation will be discussed.

Burke 207 (11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.)

Nov. 6, 2026

Korean Studies Virtual Workshop

Dialogues between South Korea and Canada: New Demographic Realities, Education, Migration & Policy Responses 

For more information and registration, click here. 

Oct. 22, 2026

Analyzing Media Framing of Cyclone Amphan: Implications for risk communication and disaster preparedness

Geography Speaker Series
Dr. Khan R. Rahaman, Adjunct Professor
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

How did people respond to a category 5 cyclone in India and Bangladesh during the COVID pandemic and how media helped the process of understanding damages caused by the cyclone to assist people for recovery. 

Burke 207 (2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.)

Sept. 25, 2026

The Saint Mary's University Geography Society (SMUGS)

SMUGS is a student-run group hosting events throughout the year. Information on this year's executive and background on the group, along with a registration form, can be found at the following link:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScI2vXuMdEfWBoJpMbeOhXTt_75vSAEdut-qUaKm_t1Q4sqTQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=118405769232242062455

April 27, 2026

CAG Undergraduate Award 2025

Keyara Nelson was selected as the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) Undergraduate Award winner from Saint Mary's for 2026.

April 27, 2026

Benoit Ouellette Memorial Prize in Cartography

Based on performance in GEOG 2386 Introduction to Mapping and GIS, Erin de Alva Villar was selected as the winner of the prize for 2025-26, and Carson Bowering was selected as the runner-up.

March 26, 2026

Congratulations, Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray

Atlantic School of Theology has announced that a 2026 Honorary Associate was awarded to Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray, former president of Saint Mary's and a member of the Department of Geography & Environmental Studies. Congratulations, Dr. Summerby-Murray. 

Jan. 6, 2026

Celebrating 50 years of Geography!

Our Department's 50th-Anniversary celebrations in the Fall were recently featured by the university: Click here to go to the page.

In addition, SMU Geography Alumna ,Dr. Amber Silver was also featured in the Alumni News - Maroon & White Newsletter.

Nov. 20-21, 2025

Atlantic Division of Canadian Association of Geographers Conference 

Saint Mary's hosted the 2025 Atlantic Division of Canadian Association of Geographers Annual Meeting.  This event coincided with the celebrations for the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Geography at SMU.

Nov. 20, 2025

Hazardous Weather in Atlantic Canada: Public Perceptions and Responses (An Arts with Impact Lecture) with Dr. Amber Silver 

Part of the Arts with Impact Lecture series and keynote speaker was Dr. Amber Silver (BSc '10) a former Honours Geography student who went on to earn MES and PhD degrees after graduating from Saint Mary's University. She is now an Associate Professor with the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security at the University at Albany, New York.  

Dr. Silver addressed how Atlantic Canadians perceive and respond to hazardous weather and the role of social media in information searching. And the impact on the future of emergency management in an increasingly online world. 

There was a reception that followed at the Gorsebrook Lounge were alumni, former instructors, current students, staff and faculty could socialize and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Geography at Saint Mary’s University.

Nov. 19, 2025

GIS Day with Canadian Space Agency

Love remote sensing and working with GIS apps? In celebration of GIS Day, Canadian Space Agency had been invited to give an update on their projects. Also present were representatives from Geomatics Association of Nova Scotia. Dr. Jean Bergeron, Mission scientist, Sun-Earth System Science, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) gave a talk on “An overview of the Canadian Space Agency’s ongoing and planned space missions”. And Dirk Werle, Senior Expert on Earth Observation, Earth Observation Utilization and Services, Canadian Space Agency gave a talk on “Developing applications and supporting communities for satellite-based Earth Observation at CSA”. 

Nov. 7, 2025

The 2025 Korean Diaspora Studies Conference

The 2025 Korean Diaspora Studies Conference: Borders, Boundaries, and Displacement was a unique opportunity for the Atlantic community and scholars of the Korean diaspora to gather, share knowledge and plan for the future. Speakers included international experts, scholars from universities across Canada, and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

The conference was co-organized with KORE (Korean Office for Research and Education) at York University and presented by the Department of Geography at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, NS.  This marks the first-ever Korean Studies conference in the history of higher education in Nova Scotia.

The one-day conference included keynotes, panel discussions with global leaders in Korean Studies, and a public screening and discussion of the 2023 film Past Lives.

Oct 1, 2025

Wild Nova Scotia

Transcoastal Adaptations Centre for Nature Based Solutions had a special screening of Wild Nova Scotia. Episode S03 E9 (Wetlands) showcases our research and implementation of nature-based solutions! Highlighted in the episode are Tony Bowron and Kayla Williams (CB Wetlands & Environmental Specialists), Jonathan Fowler (Saint Mary's University), and Joanna Skomorowski (Nova Scotia Nature Trust). This screening is an opportunity to celebrate their work, share stories, and connect across our community.

Oct. 1, 2025

Faculty Author Series Reading with Cathy Conrad

As part of Homecoming 2025, the Patrick Power Library and SMU Alumni presented a special public talk in the Library’s Faculty Author Series, celebrating the 50th anniversary of both the Library and the Geography Department.

Presentation was done by Dr. Cathy Conrad, a researcher of migration whose work is deeply informed by lived experience. Dr. Conrad is not only a scholar of migration—she is also the mother, wife, and daughter of migrants. Her autoethnography talk explores these lived experiences and offers a deeply human perspective on migration.

Contemporary migration research is awash in understanding what motivates a person to embark on a migration journey. The media oversimplifies the narratives as being either related to fleeing conflict or wanting the spoils of the west. Dr. Conrad's stories and understandings dig into the human desires of mobility, of aspirations of living a life fulfilled, of adventure and curiosity. She does this through the lens of her personal family stories from The Gambia, West Africa and from the port of Bremerhaven, Germany.

Dr. Conrad is currently a Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at Saint Mary's University. She is also a SMU alum (BA ’93) herself, a professor for 26 years, and the mother of both a current SMU student and a SMU graduate.

May 8, 2025

CAG Undergraduate Award 2025

Grace Robertson was selected as the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) Undergraduate Award winner from Saint Mary's for 2025.

May 5, 2025

Benoit Ouellette Memorial Prize in Cartography

Based on performance in GEOG 2386 Introduction to Mapping and GIS, Liam McLaughlin was selected as the winner of the prize for 2024-25, and Rian Murphy was selected as the runner-up.

Nov 28, 2024

Dr. Jason Grek-Martin
Reflections of the Difficult Heritage Field Course

Over the November Break Week Drs. Jason Grek-Martin and Kirrily Freeman co-lead a joint Geography and History field excursion to Paris and Berlin, where they visited a number of difficult heritage sites associated with the Second World War and the Holocaust. This trip is the culmination of nine weeks of classroom preparation, where they have examined the rise of Nazism, the events of the war, and the escalating atrocities of the Holocaust, as well as critically explored aspects of dark tourism, affective heritage, locational authenticity, and spatial narrative in commemorating these events. The trip provided students with the opportunity to experience these difficult heritage sites directly and conduct research in preparation for their final projects. 

Nov. 25, 2024

2024 ACAG winner for best 'Lightning Talk': Megan O'Brien 

Megan O’Brien (MA Geography) won the award at the 2024 conference of the Atlantic Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers (ACAG) hosted by Mount Allison University. Her presentation was titled: “A New Old-Growth Potential Index for Nova Scotia.” Megan was a first year MA graduate student in the Geography program and was supervised by Peter Bush.

Nov 20, 2024

GIS Day

Miranda Frison, Geography MA student, is both Vice President for the board of Geomatics Association of Nova Scotia and a Student Representative for the Atlantic Division of Canadian Association of Geographers. Learn from Miranda about Geographic Information Systems and what the two associations have to offer. In addition, partake in the popular map giveaway. 

Oct. 24, 2024

Dr. Hugh Millward
Planning for Active Transportation in the Halifax Regional Municipality

Blue Box Talk hosts Dr. Hugh Millward, Professor of Emeritus, with the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies.

Dr. Millward defined Active Transportation (AT) and summarize its benefits. He will then review the planning process relating to AT in the HRM, and the role of the AT Advisory Committee. He summarized the 2017 Integrated Mobility Plan and the development of the AAA (All Ages & Abilities ) bikeway network. And will also summarize improvements to the safe pedestrian pathway system.

Oct. 10, 2024

Dr. Cathy Conrad
Reflections on intersections and complexities of transnational and intergenerational mobilities: an autoethnography of migrants 

Dr. Conrad's 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. She is now working on irregular migration in West Africa, migration as a rite of passage, and climate change on the African continent.

May 16, 2024

CAG Undergraduate Award 2024

Olivia Kokkinen was selected as the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) Undergraduate Award winner from Saint Mary's for 2024.

Apr. 26, 2024

Benoit Ouellette Memorial Prize in Cartography

Based on performance in GEOG 2386 Introduction to Mapping and GIS, Sophie Kent-Purcell was selected as the winner of the prize for 2023-24, and Daniel Wilson was selected as the runner-up.

Mar. 27, 2024

Dr. Patricia Matsumoto
Showcasing Our Student Projects from GEOG 4496/5696: Applications in GIS 

Presentation 1: 
A case of the Wicked Wildfires in Nova Scotia, Spring 2023
Presenters: Frank Kwaku Azore and Kailey Nichols
This project mapped the extent of the wildfires in Nova Scotia. The students used GIS to combine environmental and socioeconomic data, offering insights into the impact and management of natural disasters.

Presentation 2: 
Visualizing a healthier campus: An overview of Health and Sustainability at Saint Mary’s University
Presenters: Christina Connors and Maya Kosick
This project used GIS tools to map Saint Mary's University campus,  including buildings, vegetation, built-up areas, food services, and vending machines, among other features. The project offered a unique view of the campus using 360-degree photos and ArcScene to visualize a healthier and sustainable environment.

Presentation 3: 
A comprehensive analysis of the housing Market in Halifax
Presenters: Bright Ofori Kwakye, Johonan Andrew Ethulkotte and Patrick Brown
This project compared rental prices in Halifax and Vancouver. Students used web scraping to collect data and GIS for spatial analysis. The project delved into Halifax's land prices and the Census 2021, providing a comprehensive analysis of the rental market.

Feb. 26, 2024

Dr. Jordan Eamer
Geological Survey of Canada - Atlantic Division

"Decades of coastline change on Sable Island and hypotheses about the future"

At the edge of the Scotian Shelf, Sable Island is morphologically similar to mid-latitude barrier islands of the northwest Atlantic coast – coastal landscapes that are acutely affected by climate change and sea level rise. Analysis of decades of airphotos suggest that the majority of the coastline on Sable Island is in retreat, with net retreat on the south side of the island only partially offset by modest net advance on the north side. Island-wide data set trends show support for two different but complementary hypotheses about whole-island evolution: (1) the island is mobile via bank migration driving southern coastline changes and experiencing sediment transport toward the east, or (2) the island is generally immobile and losing subaerial sediments (and thus shrinking) likely due to ongoing (and accelerating) sea-level rise. Future investigations utilizing the comprehensive terrain, metocean, and bathymetric data, as well as a detailed examination of the late Quaternary paleoenvironmental history, should considerably narrow the projected outcomes for the island. 

Jan. 29, 2024

Frank Aazore
MA Student, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

Unearthing hidden treasures: a socio-ecological assessment of the social values of ecosystem services in Ghana.

Understanding local knowledge and perception of ecosystem benefits in forest-dependent communities is crucial for developing countries in Africa, where often other compelling priorities for development take over ecosystem conservation. This study investigated what the local community perceives as the social values of ecosystems, using the Atebubu-Amantin Municipality of Ghana, West Africa, as a case study. This study emphasized the importance of extensive community engagement in nature conservation and natural resource management.

May 19, 2023

2023 Environmental Studies Prize

Jacob Wisbey was selected for the annual Environmental Studies Prize given by the School of the Environment.

Apr. 25, 2023

CAG Undergraduate Award 2023

Carmen Rojas-Fischer was selected as the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) Undergraduate Award winner from Saint Mary's for 2023.

Apr. 25, 2023

Benoit Ouellette Memorial Prize in Cartography

Based on performance in GEOG 2386 Introduction to Mapping and GIS, Alexis Brewer was selected as the winner of the prize for 2022-23, and Grace Robertson was selected as the runner-up.

Mar. 23, 2023

Announcement of Dr. Danika van Proosdij as University Research Professor

See the university press release with details of this announcement.

Jan. 5, 2023

New book by Dr. Cristian Suteanu

Scale - Understanding the Environment

Available for downloading to members of the Saint Mary's University community through the library via this link:
link-springer-com.library.smu.ca/book/10.1007/978-3-031-15733-2