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Chair’s Corner

Dr. Jane Southworth

Well we have so much to update that it makes this brief newsletter quite the challenge to write. In the last few years UF Geography has exploded – and despite the recent retirements of Dr. Greg Glass and Dr. Peter Waylen (featured event later in this newsletter) we now total 24 full-time faculty in the Department. Last year alone we hired 4 new faculty members (see panel to right), bringing the total to 13 new hires over the last 5 years!!! We have developed multiple new certificate programs, new degree specializations, and dozens of new courses for both undergraduate and graduate students. Our program is expanding into the field of GeoAI (a suite of new courses and a new certificate program) and is currently developing a new degree in Meteorology! In addition to all the new course offerings and new programs we have also made significant strides in the research arena. In 2020 and 2021 our faculty raised $5.05 and $4.73 million dollars respectively, in terms of research projects led by Geography Faculty. When we include Co-PIs and collaborative projects this number is obviously much higher. Overall Geography has consistently been in the top 5 of programs in our college in terms of total research dollars awarded (even though we are a relatively small program). UF Geography also ran its first Geography Giving Day as part of UF’s Giving Day Celebration, Feb 2022, and we received 64 gifts, totaling over $4,500. Not bad for our first attempt – expect to hear more from us on this next year!