Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Geography (College of Social and Behavioral Science)
PhD in Geography (GIScience / Earth System Science Track)
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition waiver + 9-to-12 month living stipend (~$25,000–$29,000/yr) + health insurance guaranteed through Teaching Assistantships (TA) and Research Assistantships (RA).
Fall Priority Deadline: January 15 (Fall Admission)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 80 minimum or IELTS 6.5 minimum
MS in Geography (Thesis Track)
100% Full Funding on Thesis Track!
Funding Reality: University of Utah Geography actively awards full tuition waivers and Teaching Assistantships (TA) to admitted MS thesis students! Excellent funded Master's target.
Application Deadline: January 15
Admissions Advisory: If full funding is required and MS is self-funded, students are strongly advised to apply directly to the PhD track.
Vetted Matched Scholars (2 Profiles)
Prof. Simon Brewer
Professor of Geography
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He writes computer code and statistical algorithms that read complex spatial maps, predicting how plant species and wildfire hazards shift as the climate changes.
Core Research Topics: Spatial data science, GeoAI, ecological and climate spatial modeling, machine learning for environmental data, R spatial programming.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Specializes in spatial statistics and machine learning algorithms (boosted regression trees, random forests) to model environmental species distributions, wildfire probabilities, and paleoclimate hydrological shifts.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: R spatial modeling packages, GeoAI, Bayesian spatial statistics, GIS spatial databases, Python.
Recruiting Context: Director of spatial computing in Geography. Direct match for candidates with GIS and coding experience.
Candidate Match:
GISGeoAISpatial AnalysisGeographyPython
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your background in GIS, spatial statistics, and programming, expressing enthusiasm for his spatial data science and environmental modeling research."
Prof. McKenzie Skiles
Associate Professor of Geography
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
She uses satellites and drones to study how red desert dust blows onto white mountain snow, acting like a dark blanket that melts drinking water snowpacks weeks too early.
Core Research Topics: Snow hydrology, radiative transfer modeling of snow, remote sensing of snow albedo, dust on snow, drone photogrammetry.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Directs Snow Optics and Hydrology Lab. Uses airborne imaging spectrometers (NASA AVIRIS), drones, and satellite remote sensing to track how dark desert dust blown onto mountain snowpacks speeds up snowmelt and alters downstream river runoff.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Imaging spectrometry, UAV drone multispectral imaging, field spectroradiometry, snowpack physical models (SNOWPACK), Python.
Recruiting Context: Well-funded NSF CAREER researcher with premier field and remote sensing laboratory.
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingHydrologyGISGeographyPython
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Highlighting your remote sensing and hydrology background, presenting your interest in her snow optics, drone photogrammetry, and mountain hydrology research."