Community Geography: Directory of Centers

Below you’ll find a list of community geography “centers.” These are defined as named research units within academic institutions, such as labs, centers, or programs. Find more information on them below. This page was last updated on 5/25/23.

Center for Resilient Communities (West Virginia University)

  • Main focus: Community economies, regional sustainable development, environmental justice, climate action, right to food, regional food systems, community wellbeing
  • Website link: https://resilientcommunities.wvu.edu/
  • Recent examples of work: See http://foodlink.wvu.edu/
  • Contact: Bradley Wilson, brwilson@mail.WVU.edu
  • Others involved: Undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, faculty affiliates
  • Geographic focus: Local, Statewide/regional, International

Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, Community GIS (University of Minnesota)

Charlotte Action Research Project (University of North Carolina at Charlotte)

  • Main focus: The Charlotte Action Research Project (CHARP) forges partnerships between the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and marginalized communities in Charlotte. We take our starting point in recognizing a neighborhood’s assets. We consistently and proactively seek to integrate teaching, research, and action to work towards a larger agenda of social justice, enable neighborhoods to advocate for themselves, and create sustainable neighborhood coalitions to implement structural change.
  • Website link: https://charp.charlotte.edu
  • Contact: Colleen Hammelman, colleen.hammelman@uncc.edu
  • Others involved: There are several PhD students affiliated with CHARP. We also have a network of affiliate faculty conducting research across the university. We meet regular to share resources and expertise, identify areas to collaborate, and support student learning.
  • Geographic focus: Local

Citizen Science GIS (Central Florida University)

  • Main focus: We make geospatial technologies for science more accessible and understandable by fostering relationships between communities and scientists, of all ages, across the globe.
  • Website link: https://www.citizensciencegis.org
  • Contact: Tim Hawthorne, timothy.hawthorne@ucf.edu
  • Geographic focus: Local, Statewide/regional

Community Geography Collaboratory (Kent State University)

  • Main focus: Creating maps doing spatial analysis for the local community
  • Website link: https://communitygeography.kent.edu/
  • Contact: Jen Mapes, jmapes@kent.edu
  • Example projects: Mapping May 4, 1970, Park Equity map for League of Women Voters
  • Geographic focus: Local, Statewide/regional, International

Community Mapping Lab (University of Georgia)

  • Main focus: The Community Mapping Lab is comprised of faculty, students, and community members who draw from geographic theories and methods to work for the empowerment of marginalized groups, shape understanding of important issues, and develop new tools for community based research. Our research projects rely on collaborative research partnerships, develop innovative approaches to engaged research, and foster public dialogue about community development, community engagement, cartography, and spatial analysis.
  • Recent examples of work:
    • We worked with a local biking organization to develop a guide to bikeable streets in the city using some member input (though limited by COVID). That map is currently publicly available on that organization’s website.
    • We worked with descendants of the Linnentown neighborhood in Athens, a black community destroyed through urban renewal for the expansion of UGA’s campus. We digitized records related to the neighborhood, created online maps that told multiple aspects of its history, and created an estimate of financial losses to residents that was used for a reparations payment from the city.
    • We are digitizing the 1958 city directory of Athens to help make Black communities and spaces from that time more visible in discussions of local history. We also plan to use this information to convene conversations around geographies of labor and racial segregation in the city.
  • Website: http://communitymappinglab.org
  • Contact: Jerry Shannon, jshannon@uga.edu
  • Others involved: The CML is part of a broader community geography initiative at University of Georgia, including Hilda Kurtz, Nik Heynen, and Jennifer Rice as well as graduate and undergraduate students.
  • Geographic focus: Local, Statewide/regional

Critical and Community Geographies (CCG) Lab (University of Missouri, College of Arts and Sciences)

  • Main focus: The Critical and Community Geographies (CCG) Lab led by Dr. Aída Guhlincozzi is accepting students interested in pursuing Master’s degrees in Geography. Funding is available on a competitive basis. The lab is focused on topics related to:
    • Healthcare access – inclusive of green space, therapeutic landscapes, and other spaces
    • Health geographies of vulnerable populations, particularly: Latine, Black, or other minoritized populations; Autistic people or other disabled populations
    • Geographic approaches to researching and mitigating structural harm
    • Critical and community-oriented approaches to data structures, data management, collection, and analysis
    • Geographic education for all grade levels, but particularly those in middle school (6th – 8th grade)
  • Contact: Dr. Aída Guhlincozzi, argvfz@missouri.edu
  • Geographic focus: Local, Statewide/regional, national
  • Other notes: If interested, please contact Dr. Guhlincozzi through this form

Neighborhood Assistance Center (Chicago State University)

  • Main focus: Social Science assistance to local organizations to support their work.
  • Website: https://www.csu.edu/nac/
  • Contact: Daniel Block, dblock@csu.edu
  • Geographic focus: Local, Statewide/regional

Knowledge Exchange for Resilience (Arizona State University)

  • Main focus: The mission of the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience is to support Maricopa County, Arizona, by sharing knowledge, catalyzing discovery, and building solutions to catalyze change in order to build community resilience. We work to support profound and enduring change across organizations to bring resilience dividends especially facing heat.
  • Website link: http://resilience.asu.edu
  • Recent examples of work (links):
  • Contact: Patricia Solis, resilience@asu.edu
  • Geographic focus: Local, Statewide/regional
  • Other notes: We are interdisciplinary – pan-university, multi sector but lead by geographers and using geography and GIS as a key capability.

R.H. Mallory Center for Community Geography (University of New Mexico)

  • Main focus: (1) Seed funding to support community engagement in UNM courses, (2) fellowships to support student engagement on human-environment partnerships in New Mexico, and (3) public events that bring UNM and community partners together.
  • Website link: https://communitygeography.unm.edu
  • Contact: Maria Lane, communitygeography@unm.edu
  • Others involved: We have faculty affiliates, graduate assistants, undergrad interns, and grad/undergrad “Community Geography Fellows.”
  • Geographic focus: Local, Statewide/regional

Syracuse Community Geography (Syracuse University Maxwell School)

  • Main focus: Syracuse Community Geography works in partnership with community-based organizations and university affiliates to map and spatially analyze topics of concern to Central New York communities. SCG helps communities to identify and address challenges in new ways using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping and other forms of spatial analysis. Projects are data driven and results oriented.
    • Community-based participatory research; participatory GIS; community-engaged research
  • Recent projects: Mapping housing eviction in Syracuse; Examining restrictive zoning in Onondaga County; Locating business start-ups in Syracuse; Assessing the impact of Onondaga Earth Corps on canopy cover and youth development
  • Website link: https://communitygeography.org/
  • Contact: Jonnell Robinson, jdallen@syr.edu
  • Others involved: Arnisson Andre Ortega, Co-Director; Amanda Beavin, Graduate Research Assistant
  • Geographic focus: Local, Statewide/regional