Topographies is the Geography and Environmental Studies Seminar Series. Speakers are invited to present their research to an audience of graduate students, faculty, and other interested affiliates, on topics related to one of our various fields: environmental and climate change studies; human or physical geography; and geomatics.
We were drawn to the name Topographies as it works both materially (as arrangement of physical or natural features on the surface of the Earth, represented on a map or chart) and metaphorically (as aspects or nuances of an idea or theory). Formerly the Founders Seminar (2000-2024), named in honour of founding departmental members from the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, Topographies represents the next chapter of our efforts to build a community of scholars.
Seminars will be held in person Loeb A220 from 2:30pm – 4pm on Wednesdays.
The Geography and Environmental Studies Departmental Seminar Series is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. Please send requests for accommodation to Natalia Fierro natalia.fierromarquez@carleton.ca.
Winter 2024 Seminar Schedule
- January 17, 2024: Dr. Rassoul Mahiny “Modeling Urban Change and Its Implications for Ecosystem Management”
- February 2, 2024: DGES Pizza Party (and Potluck) Before Bill McKibben Public Talk
- March 20, 2024: Andy Crosby (Carleton University) Resisting Eviction: Domicide and the Financialization of Rental Housing
- April 3, 2024: Research Panel
Speaker Bios
Abdolrassoul Salmanmahiny, also known as Rassoul Mahiny, was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1966. He earned his B.Sc. in Fisheries and Environmental Science from Gorgan University in 1989, followed by an M.Sc. in Environmental Science from Tehran University in 1994. Dr. Mahiny completed his Ph.D. in Resource Management and Environmental Science at The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, in 2004. He conducted sabbatical studies at the Geography Department, UCSB, Santa Barbara, California, USA, from February to August 2010 and at the same time worked as research associate at UCSB. He has served as an academic staff member at Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources since 1994. Dr. Mahiny has taught a variety of courses at both the B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD. levels, in areas such as basic and advanced remote sensing, GIS, land evaluation and land use planning, environmental impact assessment, and climate change impact assessment. Proficient in English and with a basic French knowledge, he possesses good command in various remote sensing and GIS packages, including Idrisi, Arcview, Arc/Info, ArcGIS, ENVI, Ermapper, and Erdas Imagine, with fair to good command in Python and R. Dr. Mahiny’s research interests span change detection and modeling for environmental management, application of AI, RS, and GIS to natural resources assessment, ecosystem services mapping, and scenario development. Noteworthy achievements include the publication of 15 books in Persian over the last decade, leading the completion of the Golestan Province land use planning project, and suggesting and implementing research in urban growth modeling, ecosystem services mapping, and Python coding, all while imparting knowledge to master’s and Ph.D. students.
Andrew (Andy) Crosby is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University, on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin land. Crosby has a PhD in Sociology (Carleton) and his research engages with various themes relating to policing and housing justice. Crosby is author of Resisting Eviction: Domicide and the Financialization of Rental Housing (Fernwood 2023) and co-author of Policing Indigenous Movements: Dissent and the Security State (Fernwood 2018).