Robin Roth to Deepen The Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics' Impact as Chair

Dr. Robin Roth comes to the role of Chair in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics (GEG) with a vision for deepening the department’s impact both on and off campus.  

Roth is a broadly trained human-environment geographer with expertise in conservation governance and conflict, political ecology, livelihood change and Indigenous approaches to conservation. After earning a PhD in Geography at Clark University in Massachusetts, she spent 11 years as a professor at York University before coming to Guelph in 2015.  

At U of G, Roth was the inaugural coordinator of the Master of Conservation Leadership (MCL) program. The first of its kind in Canada, MCL serves working conservation professionals looking to become more impactful conservation leaders. The program is known for its emphasis on innovative approaches including Indigenous-led conservation and private lands conservation. 

Now, Roth is looking forward to serving as the GEG department chair. “I applied because I believe in what we do in the department. GEG is all about training students to be part of the solution to the complex environmental issues our world is facing.” said Roth.  

Although GEG and the university are facing multiple challenges, Roth sees an opportunity to build on the department's strengths of an outstanding research culture, the high quality of pedagogical commitment and innovation in the classroom, the relevant nature of research and teaching to complex world problems, and commitment to a healthy and anti-oppressive work environment. 

According to Roth, these strengths align well with the University of Guelph’s strategic goals of deepening impact on the world, transforming the university through Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization (EDII), and building a sustainable tomorrow. Using the university’s goals to guide departmental innovation, Roth plans to build out a departmental strategic plan to identify further opportunities and priorities that will guide the department’s work.  

“One of the opportunities I see is improving communication with prospective and current students. Prospective students don’t necessarily understand what our programs are about, and we can work together with the Marketing and Communications team to better craft that message,” said Roth. “Additionally, students in our programs don’t always understand the competencies they’re building. We want to attract students that have ambition for transformative change, and so we need to make the leadership competencies that we’re teaching clear and provide quality experiential learning in our program.” 

Another opportunity Roth plans to pursue is building on the department’s commitment to a healthy work environment set out in its EDII vision and action statement. “I want to follow the whole person approach, which takes into account that everyone comes to their roles as complex individuals with unique histories and encourages the practice of empathy, respect and humility,” said Roth. 

Roth feels that there is already a strong environment of collaboration within GEG, but also hopes to improve collaboration within CSAHS, across campus, and with other institutions. “If we take a student-centred approach, we need to build programs that give students the skills and experiences they’re looking for, that are needed in today’s society. If we don’t have all the resources to do that in the department, maybe there are ways of working with others that have those resources and deliver top-notch programs to the students looking for it,” said Roth. 

To take advantage of these opportunities and tackle these challenges, Roth hopes to meet individually with staff, faculty, and graduate and undergraduate student societies to really understand what’s working and how we can best work together.  

“Ultimately, the Chair’s office is there to enable the department to be successful, individually and collectively, so participatory decision-making and creating opportunities for input into strategic planning is key to enacting our collective vision,” said Roth. “I plan to be a fierce advocate for our department and make sure the broader community understands us, but also be practical and make the most of decisions that we can’t change.”