The College of Liberal Arts’ Geography and Urban Studies degree professors aren’t just teachers. They’re also researchers, and they encourage their students to contribute to their groundbreaking research. The Department of Geography, Environment and Urban Studies’ selected research projects have four focus areas: 

  • social justice 
  • globalization
  • sustainability
  • geographic methods

A portion of their work is performed at the Spatial Analytics Lab. Learn more about the department’s research services.

Research Projects

Faculty research projects focus broadly on the interconnections among processes of globalization, the implications for sustainability and the impact on equity and social justice. These research emphases incorporate a strong analytical foundation of both quantitative and qualitative geographic methods as well as urban policy.

Sponsored research projects in the department are funded by a variety of federal and international agencies and foundations, including the National Science Foundation, the NASA, the National Institutes of Health, The World Bank and the William Penn Foundation. Through these resources, graduate students play an integral role in sponsored research.

Focus Areas

Our work is theoretically informed and empirically grounded research in metropolitan and rural settings (U.S. and international), seeking to understand interdisciplinary and integrative analyses of complex urban processes and problems. Our faculty has expertise in a range of research methodology: qualitative methods, remote sensing, GIS, spatial statistics and program evaluation.

Our specific research foci include four main areas:

  • Social Justice
  • Globalization
  • Sustainability
  • Geographic Methods

Selected Research Projects

Spatial Analytics Lab (SAL@T)

Welcome to the Spatial Analytics Lab at Temple University (SAL@T)

The lab was established in 2012 as a research, education and service-based core facility at Temple University for geographic information technologies, spatial data, geographic modeling and mapping. The principal mission of the lab is to support research and education in geographical information sciences at Temple University and surrounding communities.

The research activities of the lab are sponsored through grants, contracts and programs involving faculty and graduate students from the Department of Geography, Environment and Urban Studies. The lab provides a variety of geographic information system (GIS) and spatial analytic services to Temple faculty, as well as to educational institutions, private and non-profit companies, and government agencies. SAL@T also provides valuable educational experiences for GIS students and internship applications are accepted throughout the year.

If you are interested in learning more about our lab research and the services we offer please contact Kevin A. Henry at 215-204-2961.

Our Services

Consulting

  • Grant writing (integrating geospatial analysis into objectives and methods)
  • Project-based research consulting
  • GIS project planning and management

Data Management, Processing and Mapping

  • Geocoding addresses
  • Geodatabase design
  • Geographic data acquisition, conversion/development
  • Historical GIS and data integration
  • GPS enabled field data acquisition
  • Geoprocessing
  • Map Design
  • Census data processing

Analysis

  • Spatial Sampling
  • Spatial modeling
  • Spatial analysis
  • Spatial statistics
  • Network analysis
  • Developing area-based measures (e.g., SES, walkability, access to healthy foods)

Geospatial Health Analysis

  • Disease mapping
  • Mapping health information
  • Spatial clustering of health events
  • Analyzing access to health services
  • Analyzing geographic health disparities
  • Location allocation models for health services research
  • Mapping hazards and environmental stressors

Funding Projects 

There are a number of ways that projects can be funded:

  • Collaborator pays Temple University based on an hourly rate using funding based on an Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
  • Collaborator and Temple University apply for grants together.
  • Collaborator applies for grants and sub-contracts to Temple University.