Department of Geography, UNT: We are a highly diverse, interdisciplinary and collaborative department. Our faculty is comprised of 15 members from 7 countries with expertise in four core areas including: Earth Science and Modeling, Human Systems and the Environment, Environmental Archaeology and GIS and Remote Sensing (see http://www.geography.unt.edu/people/faculty for additional information on current faculty research interests). In addition, as part of the Institute of Applied Science, we are interested in transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries to solve a range of environmental problems. Our location in the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building (EESAT) along with environmental scientists, environmental philosophers and the Elm Fork Education Center makes for a unique collaborative setting.
EESAT's atrium is the site of many events including conferences, art installations and educational activities. The open plan of the building provides opportunity for interaction amongst people within the building.
The EESAT Building
Examples of Collaborations and Opportunities for Research
Intradepartmental collaborative projects
• Fry and Tiwari - Natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale
• Oppong and Tiwari - GIS and health research
• Pan and Dong - Environmental modeling and climate change
• Ponette-González and Pan - Land use change, hydrology and biogeochemistry in Mexico
• Rice - Industrial waste recycling
• Wolverton and Dong - Deer home range monitoring
• Wolverton and Fry - Deer management with the Kickapoo
Interdepartmental collaborative projects
• Archaeological chemistry (Geography, Biology)
• Computational epidemiology (Geography, Environmental Science, Computer Science)
• Hurricane sedimentation (Geography, Physics)
• Mesa Verde (Geography, English, Philosophy, Art, Media Arts)
• Natural gas drilling in the Barnet Shale (Geography, Biology)
• Pharmaceuticals in the environment (Geography, Biology)
• Volunteered geographic information, LiDAR and disaster damage assessment (Geography, Computer Science, Public Administration)
• Wetland mitigation (Geography, Biology)
Many of our faculty members also work internationally in such countries as Canada, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, China, New Zealand and Ghana.
Because we are located in the midst of a growing metroplex, there are many opportunities for urban, economic and environmental research through many organizations, including:
• North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG)
• Sustainable Denton (City of Denton)
• Lake Lewisville Environmental Learning Area (LLELA)
• National Environmental Observation Network (NEON)
• LBJ National Grasslands
• Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Various municipalities
• Trinity River Authority
• Lewisville Aquatic Environmental Research Facility
• U.S. Geological Survey
• Tarrant Regional Water District
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
UNT Geography Students
We offer bachelor's and master's degrees in geography, as well as an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in environmental science (www.ias.unt.edu). Recently, we redesigned our curriculum to help students build a solid base of knowledge in core areas as well as develop transferable skills that will position them to be competitive academically and in the job market. Graduate students take core research, theory and advanced quantitative courses in a structured manner; additional coursework enables them to specialize in a field of primary interest.
As a result, alumni from our undergraduate and graduate programs are currently employed in governmental positions from city to federal levels, as well as in the private sector in environmental consulting, utilities companies, the oil/gas industry, mapping organizations, retail location, real estate and marketing, among many other fields (http://geography.unt.edu/people/employers-unt-geography-graduates). In addition, our alumni have gone on to master's and doctoral programs in geography, environmental science, GIS and related fields.
For UNT geography student perspectives see the UNT GeogBlog.
The University of North Texas (UNT): UNT is located in Denton, Texas, approximately 30 minutes north of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. UNT is the 33rd largest university in the United States (~36,000 students) and is considered an "emerging" research university.
University of North Texas Overview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3qDKMuokEs
UNT at a Glance: http://www.unt.edu/identity/
The university is actively hiring in a number of different areas, and there is a strong campus-wide focus on interdisciplinarity and sustainability (http://sustainable.unt.edu/).
There are many other universities in the vicinity, including the University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Dallas, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, Texas Woman's University and Austin College. In addition, four major counties in the metroplex have community college systems (Dallas Community College, Tarrant County Community College, Collin County Community College and North Central Texas Community College). Baylor University and the University of Texas at Austin are 2.0 and 3.5 hours south of Denton, respectively, while the University of Oklahoma is 3.0 hours north.
Denton: Denton is a very livable and affordable town of ~120,000 inhabitants with a character all its own. The heart of Denton is located around the Courthouse Square in "downtown" Denton. Like many counties in Texas, the square consists of the old county courthouse. In Denton, the Square is a major destination with unique eateries, shops, music venues and an excellent used bookstore (http://dentonmainstreet.org/main/). It is also the site of many of the town's festivals.
Denton is a college town with two universities with all the amenities of being part of a large metroplex.
Video on Denton: the Official Best College Town in Texas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXa_RfAKgHo&context=C259f5ADOEgsToPDskL5s...
UNT's thriving music and visual arts programs bring many artists to Denton, giving the town a "little Austin" feel.
New York Times news feature on the indie rock music scene in Denton http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/travel/11cultured.html?pagewanted=all
Finally, Denton is now connected by light rail system to the City of Dallas and is conveniently located just 20 minutes from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
