Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Geography & Center for Geospatial Research
PhD in Geography
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (4-5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition waiver (reduces to $25 fee) + 9-month living stipend (~$24,000–$28,000/yr + summer support) + subsidized health insurance covered through Graduate Teaching/Research Assistantships.
Fall Priority Deadline: January 1 (Fall Priority)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 80 or IELTS 6.5
MS in Geography (Thesis Track)
100% Full Funding Available for Thesis MS (Tuition Waiver + Stipend)
Funding Reality: UGA Geography regularly awards 2-year Graduate Assistantships with full tuition waivers and stipends to admitted thesis MS students.
Application Deadline: January 1
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. J. Marshall Shepherd
Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
Former NASA scientist and national climate authority who proves that hot city pavement and buildings act as giant heat engines that create sudden rainstorms and flash floods over cities.
Core Research Topics: Urban hydroclimatology, precipitation anomalies, urban heat island flood exacerbation, extreme weather hazards, satellite remote sensing.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Investigating the 'urban rainfall effect' using spaceborne radar (GPM) and Doppler radar networks to demonstrate how metropolitan heat islands and high-rise roughness trigger heavy convective downpours and flash flooding downstream of major cities (NASA Precipitation Science Team 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), radar meteorology, WRF meteorological modeling, Python, GIS.
Recruiting Context: Former President of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), member of the National Academy of Sciences, massive national visibility.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyFlood StudiesRemote SensingGIS
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in urban hydroclimatology, satellite precipitation analysis (GPM), and flash flood hazard modeling in your research program."
Prof. Marguerite Madden
Professor of Geography and Director, Center for Geospatial Research (CGR)
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
She flies drones carrying specialized thermal and infrared cameras over salt marshes and coastal islands to detect tiny changes in marsh plant health and water levels before wetlands die.
Core Research Topics: Remote sensing, geographic information science, drone/UAS mapping, wetland vegetation change, landscape ecology, 3D surface modeling.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Deploying multispectral and thermal drone constellations to map coastal wetland degradation, barrier island vegetation health, and tidal creek hydrodynamics across Georgia's sea islands (NOAA / Georgia Sea Grant 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Pix4D, Agisoft Metashape, multispectral/thermal drone sensors, ArcGIS Pro, Google Earth Engine, spatial statistics.
Recruiting Context: Director of CGR, past President of ASPRS, world leader in UAS remote sensing and landscape ecology.
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingGISCoastal HydrologyEnvironmental Monitoring
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in UAS drone remote sensing, multispectral wetland monitoring, and landscape spatial analysis at the Center for Geospatial Research."