BU Geography & Environment

News & Events

    Two Open Faculty Positions

  • The department of Geography & Environment at Boston University invites applications for two tenure-track assistant professorships specializing the areas of (1) energy and (2) sustainability science with a focus on the interface of human and environmental systems.

    Position (1): Energy - We seek a scholar with research and teaching interests in topics related to energy. Specific research and teaching interests are flexible, but should cover either general energy, policy, and/or energy markets. The successful candidate will contribute to the Department’s Center for Energy & Environmental Studies and participate in efforts to integrate energy studies in the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Management, and the School of Engineering at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. We encourage applications from candidates trained in a wide spectrum of social science disciplines including Geography, Economics, Political Science, Public Policy, and Management.

    Position (2): Sustainability Science - We seek a scholar with research and teaching interests in topics related to environmental sustainability. Specific research and teaching interests are flexible, but the emphasis is on the social science dimensions of sustainability per se, public policy. And/or economic development. The successful candidate will contribute to a new departmental initiative in sustainability science and will have the opportunity to collaborate with a wide range related programs across the campus including those in International Relations, Political Science, Economics, the African Studies Center, the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer Range Future, and the Boston University School of Public Health. We encourage applicants from a broad spectrum of disciplines including Geography, Economics, and Political Science, as well as from a variety of public policy programs.

    Candidates should have a commitment to teaching and research, and a desire to work in an interdisciplinary setting. Applicants should submit a CV, a statement of teaching and research interests, a research paper or dissertation chapter, and contact information for at least three referees. Applicants with teaching experience are invited to submit teaching evaluations. Electronic applications are encouraged and should be sent to ge@bu.edu, with the subject line “Energy Position” or “Sustainability Science Position” as appropriate. Hard copies will also be accepted and should be addressed to Department of Geography & Environment, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. Boston University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. *Pending budgetary approval.

    • Other News

  • Professor Bruce Anderson recently gave the keynote address to the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators at the Northeast/RGGI States Climate Change Forum, held at the Hyatt Regency Boston on Thurs.-Fri., Oct. 22-23. Present were the Speaker of the Maine state assembly, the minority leader for the Alaska legislature, and additional assembly leaders from other states. In addition there were about 20-30 state legislators and NGO representatives present discussing the impacts of climate change on our local communities, and the ways that the Northeast states can help to mitigate these impacts.
  • Geography and Environment undergraduate students enjoyed pizza and prizes at the inaugural "Geography and Environment Trivia Challenge." Congratulations to all the winners! Please click here to see the questions and answers for this year's trivia.
  • Prof. Robert Kaufmann was interviewed by the Boston Metro for an article titled "Schools cater to green job growth."
  • Prof. Crystal Schaaf and Miguel Roman recently had an article published showing how wildfires may actually cool the warming artic. Click here for the full article.
  • Kelly Whiten, a 2008 Environmental Analysis and Policy graduate, is now interning at the New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office this summer in the legal education and staff development office.
  • Remote Sensing of Vegetation Class Enjoys its Traditional Pesto Party - Following the completion of directional reflectance measurements of corn, switchgrass, and nasturtium canopies grown in the GE greenhouse atop the Stone Science Building, Professors Strahler and Woodcock led the class in preparation of an Italian-style lunch featuring linguini al pesto, made from greenhouse-grown basil plants. The meal also featured greenhouse-grown baby arugola and misticanza salads, along with cold platters of grilled vegetables, mozzarella, basil, and fresh tomato. Penne with ginger-garlic sauce provided a contrast to the pesto that blended Italian and Chinese influences. Greenhouse-grown green beans were also served. Desert was a tasting of three types of gelato with chocolate biscotti. The group of almost twenty students prepared the food in the Continuing Education Culinary Demonstration Facility. Photos will be coming soon!
  • The USGS Landsat Science Team met January 8-10 in Sioux Falls, SD to consider a variety of topics related to the Landsat Program. Of primary concern is the progress in the development of the sensor (OLI) being built by Ball Aerospace (for more information click here) for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (for more information click here) The OLI sensor has significant differences from the current TM and ETM+ sensors on existing Landsat satellites. A second primary topic for the meeting concerns the availability of historical Landsat imagery. The USGS announced plans to move aggressively toward providing all past Landsat imagery in their archive on demand for no charge. This tremendous development promises to change the way the historical archive of Landsat imagery will be used to explore the recent history of the surface of Earth. A report was also given by USGS on efforts to find and recover Landsat images collected in the past that are not in the USGS archive. Additionally, the Science Team developed recommendations for the new National Land Imaging Program , or NLIP (for more information, click here)
  • Professor Adil Najam joins the faculty in Geography and Environment with a joint appointment in International Relations - for more details see the story in BU Today.
  • The Center for Transportation Studies, together with the Joint OECD/ECMT Transport Research Center, is hosting the Research Round Table on "Macro, Meso and Micro-Infrastructure Planning and Assessment Tools" on 25-26 October 2007 at BU. Professors Ian Sue Wing, William P. Anderson and T.R. Lakshmanan will present the results of ongoing research into The Broader Benefits of Infrastructure Investment. Click here for a link to the paper.
  • The BU Geography & Environment ranked third in the country for 2005 by a study published in Chronicle of Higher Education. Click here to read about other BU departments who were also highly ranked.
  • Three Geography & Environment Faculty proposals were selected in a recent NASA research competition.
  • Professor Woodcock selected to be team leader for the Landsat Science Team.
  • Earth Portal and Encyclopedia of Earth launched.
  • BU Environmental Analysis and Policy Alum founds Clean Air Lawn Care.
  • Professor T.R. Lakshmanan was featured in BU Today, in a story about the honorary degree he was recently awarded from his alma mater, Ohio State University. Click here to read Lakshmanan Receives Honorary Degree
  • Professor Robert Kaufmann was quoted in a BU Today story about what 2007 holds for the new Congress. Click here to read What the New Congress Could Bring (bottom of the article) for Kaufmann's thoughts on national security, the war on terrorism, and economic competitiveness.
  • Professor Robert Kaufmann was recently a guest on NPR's On Point radio show. Click here to listen to him on the show Deep Drilling for Oil.

  • BU Geography & Environment News and EventsProfessor Cutler Cleveland has recently launched The Encyclopedia of Earth, an ongoing project that aims to be the largest reliable information resource on the environment in history. It is completely free and kept constantly up-to-date. The project has already attracted a large group of distinguished editors and authors of the highest caliber, from renowned international institutions. For more information, visit The Encyclopedia of Earth.