The UConn Board of Trustees voted at its meeting on Feb. 29 to establish a new department merging the Department of Geography with Urban and Community Studies and providing an administrative home for Environmental Studies. 

The new Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community and Urban Studies (GSCU) will draw on existing research and teaching strengths to address interdisciplinary issues in geography, environment, and sustainability. 

It will also strengthen the cross-college Environmental Studies program by giving it an administrative home in which to center its advisory board, with membership of faculty across CLAS and the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, the department leaders wrote in their proposal to the Board. 

By conducting community-engaged research and teaching on the urgent environmental, social, and geographical challenges faced by communities around the globe, the GSCU department plans to address questions related to sustainability, resilience, health, and social inequities.  

These questions will be addressed from local to global scales under the impacts of climate change and global urbanization, the department’s leaders say. 

“The new department enables problem-focused education and research, crossing boundaries between traditional disciplines,” explains Anji Seth, department head and professor of geography. “For example, problems of urban environmental justice can be addressed by students and researchers through community engagement and with geospatial data analysis tools.” 

Over time, the new department will increase its current contributions to the State by training students for jobs at Connecticut government agencies, municipal planning agencies, local businesses, and non-profit organizations. 

The GSCU department serves approximately 200 undergraduate student majors, 100 minors, and 25 graduate students. Geography’s online and entrepreneurial graduate programs in Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) and Master’s in Energy and Environmental Management also serve 100 students and professionals in Connecticut and across the country.  

The department will officially form as an administrative unit on July 1, 2024.