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The Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment at UTM is very active in the global scholarship and research community.
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The annual newsletter of the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment (GGE) at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) highlights updates and accomplishments from our students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
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Latest News
'Experiential learning is crucial': UTM students get hands-on learning in science of snow
GGR317 in the News: Professor Laura Brown’s Students Featured in UTM's News Room
March 20, 2026
From the classroom to the snowbanks! Professor Laura Brown’s course, GGR317 The Cryosphere: Canada's Frozen Environments, was recently spotlighted in the UTM News Room for their expedition to Camp Kawartha. By venturing into Ontario’s winter landscapes, these third-year students gained invaluable experiential learning—tackling the real-world challenges of measuring snow and gathering critical weather data in the field.
Read the full feature in the 'Experiential learning is crucial': UTM students get hands-on learning in science of snow.
Professor Ron Buliung Awarded the 2026 Edward L. Ullman Award for Lifetime Contributions to Transportation Geography
The Transportation Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers has named Professor Ron Buliung the recipient of the 2026 Edward L. Ullman Award, recognizing lifetime contributions to transportation geography.
March 6, 2026
The Edward L. Ullman Award, the most prestigious honour presented by the Transportation Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers, recognizes scholars whose work has made lasting contributions to transportation geography across research, policy, and practice. Professor Ron Buliung was selected in recognition of his distinguished scholarship on travel behaviour, mobility inequality, and the social organization of everyday transportation. His work has also brought important attention to the mobility experiences of children, families, and people with disabilities, helping to frame mobility as a key issue of accessibility and equity. The award further acknowledges his leadership in the field and his strong record of mentorship and graduate training.
Congratulations, Ron!
Matthew Noonan Publishes First Research Paper
Matthew Noonan, supervised by Professor Yuhong He, has published his first research paper in the journal Ecological Informatics.
Octorber 6, 2025
Matthew Noonan, a student supervised by Professor Yuhong He, has published his first research article in the journal Ecological Informatics. The paper, co-authored with Y. He, D. Nelson, H. Ge, R. Siu, and T. P. Duval, is titled “Estimating seasonal fractional green and dead vegetation cover in rehabilitated ecosystems using drone remote sensing.” The study demonstrates the use of drone-based remote sensing to estimate seasonal vegetation cover in rehabilitated ecosystems, contributing to improved monitoring and assessment of ecosystem recovery.
Citation:
Noonan, M., Y. He, D. Nelson, H. Ge, R. Siu, & T. P. Duval (2025). Estimating seasonal fractional green and dead vegetation cover in rehabilitated ecosystems using drone remote sensing. Ecological Informatics, 80, 103456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2025.103456
Congratulations to Matthew!
Tingting Zhu Wins 2025 UTM Teaching Excellence Award for Junior Faculty
We are delighted to announce that Professor Tingting Zhu has been recognized with the 2025 UTM Teaching Excellence Award for Junior Faculty, honoring her exceptional dedication to undergraduate education.
Octorber 16, 2025
Professor Tingting Zhu has been awarded the prestigious 2025 UTM Teaching Excellence Award for Junior Faculty in recognition of her outstanding contributions to undergraduate teaching. Her innovative approaches and unwavering commitment to student learning have made a meaningful impact, inspiring and supporting students throughout their academic journeys.
Congratulations to Professor Tingting Zhu on this well-deserved honor!
Jenny Cui and Matt Adams Publish First Research Paper
Congratulations to Jenny Cui (PhD student) on publishing her first paper with Matt Adams in Land!
September 30, 2025
Jenny Cui (PhD student), along with Matt Adams, has just published her first research paper: Cui, S., & Adams, M. (2025). Dry Deposition of Fine Particulate Matter by City-Owned Street Trees in a City Defined by Urban Sprawl. Land, 14(10), 1969. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14101969. This work highlights the role of urban trees in mitigating air pollution and contributes to our understanding of environmental management in sprawling cities.
Congratulations to Jenny on this outstanding achievement!
Latest Events & Seminars
JEG400/401 Internship Applications & Info Session
Apply by April 15, 2026 & Watch the Internship Important Information Session
JEG400 and JEG401 are academic internship courses designed to provide hands-on experience in professional environments where geographical or environmental expertise is applied. These courses aim to help students gain practical workplace experience, build professional networks, explore career opportunities, and develop essential skills for future success.
The application deadline is April 15, 2026.
Learn more about the course and application process.
To learn more, students are encouraged to watch the JEG400/401 Internship Information Session hosted by Professor Nicole Laliberté and Alina Cheng Bunting. The session provides important details about the program, application process, and expectations.
Hafssa, Matthew, Abdullahi, Ernest, and Riley will present recent progress in their research and discuss key insights from their work.
Presentation Chair: Lily Dart
Scarlett, Devin, and Frances will be presenting the latest progress in their research. Join us to hear their updates and insights!
Don’t miss the chance to hear Carolyne, Lilian, and Annika share updates on their ongoing research—an excellent opportunity to explore their latest ideas and breakthroughs!
Presentation Chair: Cera Cruise
Alexandra, Mickey, Ryan will be presenting the latest progress in their research. Join us to learn about their developments and insights!
Alexandra Auyeung (PhD student) Residential Odour Impact and Well-Being in a Steel Manufacturing City: A Case Study of Hamilton, Canada
Mickey Chen (PhD student)
Vegetation Change and Holocene Fire Regime Inferred Through Biomarker Proxies at Honeymoon Pond, Yukon
Ryan Siu (MSc student)
Rapid Assessment of Ecosystem Rehabilitation Using Drone Imagery and Deep Learning
Adam, Cera, and Snehal will be sharing updates on their ongoing research. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore their latest findings and innovative ideas!
Morley, Peter, and Luisa will be presenting the latest progress in their research. Join us to learn about their developments and insights!
This workshop supports students in preparing proposal budgets by providing guidance on allowable expenses and key considerations when using GEF applications.
GEF applications for the fall term are due September 29th, with no exceptions.
The GGE Welcome Orientation for first year and continuing graduate students whose supervisors are based at UTM will be Wednesday, September 17th from 11:00AM to 12:30PM in DV 3130. This will include updated information about GGE-specific funding opportunities, graduate presentations; light refreshments; and a department and campus tour that will end for lunch at the UTM Graduate Student BBQ and Garden Party in the CCT Courtyard that runs until 2:00PM.
Please also register for the UTM Graduate student BBQ and Garden Party here by September 11th.
All UTM-affiliated graduate students—both research-stream and professional-stream—as well as those supervised by UTM faculty, are warmly invited. The event will include a BBQ lunch, garden games, information tables on resources available at UTM and across the tri-campus and more.
Register for the UTM Graduate student BBQ and Garden Party here by September 11th.
News, Events and Seminars
Professor Kathi Wilson was awarded the Canadian Association of Geographers Award for Scholarly Distinction in Geography at the annual meeting
May 21, 2025
Canadian Association of Geographers Award for Scholarly Distinction in Geography is a major award from the Canadian Association of Geographers that recognizes a member of the CAG for outstanding scholarly work in geography, either in the form of sustained contributions over a number of years or as a single major research contribution. This award recognizes Prof. Wilson’s outstanding internationally recognized research program examining the links between the environment and health. Through a community-based research lens, and innovative research methods, her research has had a major impact on the field of Health Geography, and more specifically, on understanding the health of Indigenous peoples and immigrant populations in Canada. Over the past two decades, she has established a highly successful (as measured by publications/output, funding, training, contributions to the field, local level partnerships, etc.) community-based research program focused on identifying and addressing geographic disparities in health and inequities in access to health care/social services for historically marginalized populations and those living in vulnerable circumstances. She has also been a notable mentor, supervising over 45 undergraduate researchers, over 30 graduate and post-doctoral researchers, and mentoring many GGE faculty through her roles at UTM.
Congrats to The University of Toronto Mapping Club has won the Youth Mappers Community Outreach Award, Emerging Club of the Year Award, and the Women’s Participation Award
April 30, 2025
The University of Toronto Mapping Club has won the Youth Mappers Community Outreach Award, Emerging Club of the Year Award, and the Women’s Participation Award. The Mapping Club is a chapter of Youth Mappers, which is a global network of universities who have the goal of creating resilient communities and define their world by mapping them.
As you will see, our graduate student Jack Cheng, is the President of this impressive club!
The mapping club’s engagement with local communities included collaborations with other student clubs including SAGE, Urbanism and UTMSU Sustainability Office, and inviting graduate students and professors as guest speakers during our GIS day event. The club fostered an inclusive mapping community, engaging a majority of female student mappers.
The 2024-2025 Executive Team:
- President - Jack Cheng - Geography PhD Student
- VP Administration - Hafssa Al-Rawi - Math and GIS Double Major
- VP Communication - Adam Au - GIS Major
- VP External - Elina Jaggi - GIS and CCIT Double Major
- VP Finance - Kelvin Siu - GIS Major
https://www.youthmappers.org/awards-recognitions
Congratulations!
Professor Igor Lehnherr recived ArcticNet Partnered Research Program Grant
April 3, 2025
Professor Igor Lehnherr’s ArcticNet Partnered Research Program Grant application, titled “Aquatic Ecosystem Development Following Glacial Retreat in the Yukon River Headwaters” has been funded!
Professor Praneeta Mudaliar receieved University of Toronto India Foundation and School of Cities Research Catalyst Grant AND Black/Indigenous/Racialized Scholar Grant Program AND Hudson River Foundation
April 3, 2025
Congratulations to Professor Praneeta Mudaliar on THREE successful grant applications
- University of Toronto India Foundation and School of Cities Research Catalyst Grant: Cooling the City: Assessing the Impact of Green and Blue Spaces on Urban Heat Islands for Evidence-Based Urban Policy and Planning in India
- Black/Indigenous/Racialized Scholar Grant Program: Into the Woods: Exploring Land Stewardship by Universities and Colleges in the United States
- Hudson River Foundation: Rethinking Power Dynamics in Watershed Governance: Amplifying Racialized Voices for a Climate Resilient Hudson Valley in New York, United States
Tasmia Jamil received a Canada Graduate Scholarships—Masters Program research award AND UTM Centre for Urban Environment research award
April 3, 2025
Tasmia Jamil (MA, supervisor Praneeta Mudaliar) received two awards
- SSHRC-Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS)-Masters Program research award: titled “Mapping Environmental Justice Discourses of Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations in Ontario.”
- UTM Centre for Urban Environment research award: titled “Mapping Environmental Justice Discourses of Urban Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations in Ontario.”
Amy Fernando received a Canadian Graduate Scholarship-Maters scholarship
April 3, 2025
Amy Fernando (MSc, supervisor Matt Adams) received a CGS-M scholarship (CIHR) for her project, "Evaluating pregnancy outcomes following prenatal exposure to acute wildfire smoke."
Peter Haoxuan Ge received the Peter Gould Student Paper Competition Award
March 31, 2025
Peter Haoxuan Ge (Master's student; supervisor Jue Wang) received the AAG Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group Peter Gould Student Paper Competition Award at 2025 AAG Annual Meeting.
Scarlett Rakowska’s research was featured by UTM News
March 27, 2025
Scarlett Rakowska’s (PhD student; supervisor Matt Adams) research was featured by UTM News. See the feature article here.
Professor Tenley Conway was awarded a catalyst grant from the School Of Cities’ Urban Challenge Grant
March 20, 2025
Professor Tenley Conway was awarded a catalyst grant from the School Of Cities’ Urban Challenge Grant, for her project entitled “Growing an Equitable Urban Forest: Integrating recognitional justice data into a distributional justice tool”.
Alex Martin was awarded the Canadian Forest Sector Workforce Diversity supplement to the Canadian Graduate Scholarship-Maters
March 10, 2025
Alex Martin (MSc; supervisor is Tenley Conway) has just been awarded the Canadian Forest Sector Workforce Diversity supplement to the CGS-M. The funding is from the partnership between NSERC and Natural Resources Canada – Canadian Forest Service. (Alex was previously awarded an NSERC CGS-M (Canadian Graduate Scholarship-Maters) for his MSc. The supplement is in addition to the CGS-M, in support of his MSc).
Events and Seminars
Dr. Ghazal Fazli would like to share a Community-based Diabetes Screening Intervention for two upcoming Diabetes Prevention & Wellness Fairs in Brampton on Sunday, June 15, 2025, at Century Gardens Recreation Centre and on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga.
For more information on this initiative, please visit www.diabetes-connect.ca. The Diabetes Prevention and Wellness Fairs will prioritize early screening and detection of diabetes in the community, connecting individuals to primary care and community support programs, as well as educational resources. In addition, we aim to offer an interactive, informative, and culturally-tailored event through various activities for all ages, including:
- Inclusive culinary workshops by Bashir Munye
- Live music by Jonathan Shaw and Jamaal Daysant
- Soca, Zumba, Afrobeats & Bollywood dance demos with various artists
- Kids activities
- Raffle prizes
- Connections with community organizations
In addition to hosting several community partners and their initiatives at our events, we will also have representation from community organizations and efforts targeting child and family programs (EarlyON), food security (OddBunch), and other free perks such as Freestyle libres from Abbott for monitoring glucose levels.
Promotions
We’ve launched a few social media channels and radio shows to promote our initiative. Please feel free to follow, repost, or share our event poster (attached) through your newsletters, social media, or any other channels you use to engage community members!
- Instagram: @diabetes_connect
- Facebook: diabetes-connect
- X (Twitter):@t2dconnect
- LinkedIn: Diabetes Connect
- Website: www.diabetes-connect.ca
Thank you for celebrating with us at our year-end gathering! It’s been a fantastic year, and we appreciate everyone’s hard work and dedication.
JEG400/401 Internship Course Presentations
8:30 am – 1:30 pm
Friday, April 25, 2025
KN 130
Register at: https://forms.office.com/r/PcxaLmNtq7
To celebrate the work that the JEG400/401 internship students have accomplished over the 2024-25 academic year, we invite faculty and staff in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment to join us for the JEG400/401 Internship Presentations.
Students will be presenting on their internship projects to their peers, supervisors, GGE faculty and staff, as well other prospective internship students. Please register to attend by Friday, April 18, 2025.
The Department of Geography, Geomatics, and Environment hosted a ceremony on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, to celebrate our students' academic successes. Please join us in congratulating their accomplishments.
Shervin, Amanda and Peter will present the progress of their research.
- PhD Candidate Shervin Ghaem-Maghami - Finding Common Ground: Inclusive Community Engagement with Immigrants in Planning Decision-Making Processes in the Greater Toronto Area
- PhD Student Amanda Norton - Forest Filtration: A Time Series Analysis of NO2 and Remote Sensed Vegetation Measures
- MSc Student Peter Haoxuan Ge - Tracing Movement in Space and Time: Patterns of Physical Activity in the Greater Toronto Area
Presentation Chair: PhD student Amanda Norton
Showcase of Innovation: JEG417 Undergraduate Thesis Presentations Highlighting Year-Long Research Achievements
Presentation Schedule
12:10
Pamela Sleightholm
Assessing Property-Level Factors in Backyard Tree Establishment and Retention: Insights from a Tree Planting Initiative in Toronto
Supervisor: Professor Conway
12:25
Isha Joshi
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Geospatial Training in Enhancing Sustainability Competencies for non-Geographical Information System Students
Supervisor: Professor Zhu
12:40
Pranav Sinha
Exploring Higher Education’s Role in Land Management and Protected Areas
Supervisor: Professor Mudaliar
2:55
Tea Falzata
Wildlife Management Practices: A Roosevelt Campobello International Park Case Study
Supervisor: Professor Andrea Olive
1:10
Mason Archer
Modular Housing in Urban Canada: Assessing its Potential to Improve the Rental Affordability Crisis
Supervisor: Professor Walks
1:25
Ernest Groh
White Ice Formation on Small High Arctic Lakes near Resolute Bay, Nunavut
Supervisor: Professor Brown
1:40
Mathilde Tremblay
Assessing Restoration Status Using Soil and Plant C:N and Isotopes
Supervisor: Professor Duval
MSc Student Leila Denise Uy
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Carlo Chan
Time: 12:00PM – 1:00PM
Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Place: DV3140
Csillag Series
The Importance of Health Geography for Health Equity
Dr. Andrea Rishworth
Dr. Andrea Rishworth will be our distinguished Csillag Speaker on Wednesday, March 19th, presenting her research in Health Geography: The Importance of Health Geography for Health Equity.
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Place: DV3130