AB, Colgate University
MA, Clark University
PhD, Clark University
Peter Klepeis
Professor of Geography; University Professor, First Year Seminars
Department/Office Information
GeographyMy research and teaching explore nature-society relationships, political ecology, and environmental history. Drawing on research from around the world, I highlight different models of natural resource management and expose pathways for improved decision-making about sustainable land use.
Geographers deepen their understanding of people and place through intensive field work. I relish the opportunity to integrate off-campus experiences in my teaching, and Colgate students have conducted research with me on five continents.
Education
Research Interests
At the start of my career, I focused on tropical deforestation in southeastern Mexico as part of a multidisciplinary project that integrated quantitative and qualitative data: satellite imagery, information gathered through surveys and interviews with land users, land use sketch maps, and archival material. The research shows that deforestation today is linked to federal neoliberal policy, but also trajectories of human activity that began many decades ago.
The emphasis on historical analysis continued with projects on the human dimensions of invasive earthworms in the Adirondacks, forest recovery in New York State (related blog post), and debates about sustainable development in Patagonia.
Recent projects investigate invasive species in Australia, religious-based protection of church forests in Ethiopia, and green hydrogen development in southern Chile.
For more information about these projects, see a video recording of the Landau Peace Lecture - "Walls around trees? How to protect Ethiopia's Church Forests" - which I gave in June 2021. Also, see a colloquium presentation titled "The promise and peril of Chile’s green hydrogen boom," which took place at Colgate University in February 2026.
Please contact me (pklepeis@colgate.edu) for a CV or copies of the representative publications highlighted above.
Teaching Interests
Courses Taught Regularly
- GEOG 105: Climate and Society analyzes why people disagree about climate change and the causes, consequences, and possible response options.
- GEOG 207: What's in Your Cup? The geography of what we drink uses our daily consumption of beverages to analyze the social and environmental implications of how we live. See my article, "How coffee drinkers can help coffee growers thrive" and listen to a podcast interview about my field course on Colombian coffee production: Spotify, Apple.
- GEOG 306: The Geography of Happiness introduces students to diverse literature on factors that may contribute to happiness, including debates about the environmental and cultural conditions that are most likely to enhance individual happiness and promote overall social wellbeing. See my article, "Be Happy, for the Planet."
- GEOG 326: Environmental Hazards explores ways in which society can mitigate the risk of environmental hazards -- such as earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfire, invasive species, and toxic pollution -- and manage them more effectively.
Courses Taught Periodically
- GEOG 121: Earth, Society & Sustainability
- GEOG 211: Geographies of Nature, Economy, and Society
- GEOG 322: Ecologies of the City (Manchester study group)
- GEOG 325: Water & Society
- GEOG 328: Sustainability and Natural Resources (South Africa study group)
- GEOG/SOC 251: Media Frame and Content Analysis
- GEOG 401: Senior Seminar in Geography
- ENST 309: Australian Environmental Issues (Australia study group)
- ENST 390: Community-based Study of Environmental Issues
Off-Campus Study
Since the department was established at Colgate in the 1950s, Geography faculty have made a concerted effort to provide students learning and research opportunities off campus. Sometimes that involves exploring social and ecological environments in and around Hamilton or places like Utica and the Adirondacks. Often, it involves excursions out of the country. Recent examples include Alaska, Ethiopia, Siberia, Portugal, and Japan. Some of these experiences last a few days or weeks, and some a whole semester. Regardless of where or how long, the goal is the same: connect to people and place in transformative ways. Here, I list examples of Colgate programs I directed:
Semester-long study groups
- Cape Town (South Africa) in 2019
- Manchester (United Kingdom) in 2014
- Wollongong (Australia) in 2003, 2008, and 2025
Three-week "extended studies"
- Uganda: Frank Frey (Biology) and I co-directed a program in May 2013, which focused on malnutrition and land-use change.
- Western Australia: Adam Burnett (Geography) and I co-directed a program in May 2023, which focused on Aboriginal history and Care of Country. We'll be leading another version of the extended study in 2027.
10-day field courses
- In connection with Colgate's Sophomore Residential Seminar program, Prof. Andrés Guhl (Universidad de los Andes), Dan Joseph (Founder and CEO/Roaster at FoJo Beans), and I co-directed excursions to Colombia in January 2022 and 2025. See the articles, “SRS Program in Colombia” and “What’s in your cup?”
International exchange
- In June 2025, Adam Burnett and I co-directed a 14-day visit to Colgate and Central New York by a group of First Nation Australians from Curtin University, Western Australia. See articles describing the exchange: “Bridging Geography With Curtin University” and “Colgate Hosts First Nation Students From Western Australia.”
