Research
Physical geography is the study of the Earth and the processes connected to it in the natural environment - in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere. Important to many of these processes is the climate, and the study of the effects of climate and climate change is a vital part of our research.
Research with focus on climate and environment
Research at the department is mainly focused on interdisciplinary studies of how climate and environmental changes affect the function and composition of terrestrial ecosystems. We combine field studies in many different places in the world with work in laboratories and computer simulations . The goal is to increase understanding of the processes that take place in the exchange between the biosphere and atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere, not least under different climatic and environmental changes.
Geographic information technology
Geographic information technology is and important tool for many of our reserachers, and we are very strong in GIS and remote sensing. The GIS Centre, connected to the Department of Physical Geography and Ecostystem Science, is professional in developing and applying GIS, which can be used for everything from visualization of map data for environmental monitoring to analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of economic wealth /poverty.