Department News

The Department of Geography and Planning, College of Arts and Sciences in partnership with the Capital District Region Planning Commission(CDRPC) was recognized with the 2023 Honorary Award for Distinguished Public Engagement for their Future Leaders in Planning (FLIP) Program at the President’s Award for Exemplary Public Engagement event on April 25, 2023.

Congratulations to Professor Huang for being named one of ten Inaugural Fellows of Provost’s Leadership Academy in 2022-2023.

Through a recently-awarded National Science Foundation grant, Associate Professor Rui Li will join principal investigator Associate Professor Jonathon Little of SUNY Monroe Community College in Germany this summer, where the pair will visit two universities of applied sciences. The visit will allow Li and Little to bring geospatial industry-integrated training experiences to their specific GIS curriculum.

Banks, a lecturer in the Department of Geography and Planning, shares a preview of his new book "The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America.”

Select UAlbany faculty and staff were honored with the President’s Excellence Awards, which recognize dedication, service, and excellence beyond the call of duty in several categories. Congratulations to Department Chair Youqin Huang for receiving the President’s Excellence Award in Research and Creative Activities. Provost Carol Kim presented the awards after the president’s Spring University Address in the Campus Center West Auditorium.

The Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement has named Mitchell Givens, a student majoring in our Urban Studies and Planning program, as a recipient of the Situation Prize for Research – Community, Cause and Advocacy.

The Graduate School's 5th annual Three Minute Thesis competition featured student research on wide-ranging topics — from forest-saving forensics and a local invasive insect to social media hashtags and student mental health.

Ms. Kathe's MS thesis evaluates the impact of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect, on the water quality of New York City's water supply system. The insect has caused damage to forests and agriculture in the Northeast, and Ms. Kathe's proposed research framework identifies areas where the insect is most likely to affect water quality. Her study recommends management strategies to reduce the insect's impact, particularly in the New Croton, Kensico, and Diverting reservoirs within the Croton Watershed.