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Geography professor Gundars Rudzitis
Research/Focus Areas
  • Environmental and Resource Policy
  • Amenity migration and quality-of-life models
  • Alternative development and place-based theories
  • Indigenous geography
  • American West
  • Baltic region
Academic Programs
My Courses
  • Geography 200 World Regional Geography
  • Geography 330 Urban Geography
  • Geography 350/550 Geography of Development
  • Geography 364 Idaho and the Pacific Northwest
  • Geography 420/520 Land, Resources, and Environment
  • Geography 591 History and Philosophy of Geography

Gundars Rudzitis, Ph.D.

College of Science
Department of Geography
Professor

Campus Locations
Moscow

With UI Since
1984
Office: McClure 307C
Phone: 208-885-6613
Email: gundars@uidaho.edu
Mailing Address:
c/o Department of Geography
P.O. Box 443021
Moscow, Idaho 83844-3021

  • Ph.D. Geography, University of Chicago, 1977
  • M.A. Social Sciences, University of Chicago, 1973
  • M.B.A. Management, Adelphi College, 1968
  • B.A. Chemistry, Adelphi College, 1966

Much of my theoretical and empirical research focuses on environmental and resource conflicts, and migration and regional development issues in the American West and elsewhere.

I am currently extending my research in the direction of alternative culturally place-specific development approaches, especially indigenously based models. The intent of this research is to move beyond the simplistic development models in use today, and to show how a geographically based theory can lead to more democratic and socially just outcomes. Some of these issues are addressed in, hopefully, some novel ways in my forthcoming book.



Selected Publications

  • G.Rudzitis, N. Barbier and D. Mallickan, “The Ugly, The Bad, and The Good: Aging on Indian Reservations,” in N. Glasgow and H. E. Berry, editors, Aging in Rural America, Springer, in press, 2011.
  • G. Rudzitis and K. Bird, “The Myth and Reality of Sustainable New Zealand,” Environment, forthcoming, November, 2011.
  • G. Rudzitis, P. Overholtzer, A. Kral, K. Prime and T. Studley, Future Visions of a Sustainable Palouse, 2nd expanded edition, forthcoming, Moscow, Id: Sustainable Idaho.
  • G. Rudzitis, “Mining and Development: Lessons from the United States,” Policy Quarterly, February 2011, pp. 20-26.
  • G. Rudzitis, “Mineral Resources,” McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 2011.
  • G. Rudzitis, D. W. Marcouiller, and P. Lorah, “The Rural Rich and Their Housing: Spatially Addressing “The Haves,” in D. W. Marcouiller, M. Lapping and O. Fursuth, (editors), Rural Housing, Exurbanization, And Amenity-Driven Development: Contrasting The Haves And The Have Nots, Burlington, Vt: Ashgate, 2010.
  • G. Rudzitis. “Mining a country’s national parks: wrong then, wrong now,” Dominican Post, April 4, 2010.
  • G. Rudzitis, “If it can go boom, it can go bust,” Waikato Times, April 13, 2010.
  • G.Rudzitis, Guest Editor of an English Issue of the journal Geographica Raksti, Folia Geographica, 2009, Vol. XIV.
  • G. Rudzitis, “Amenity Development in the American West: Tonic or Slow Poison?” in L. Moss and R. Glorioso, editors, Amenity Development in Mountain Regions Worldwide, Banff, CA: The Banff Center, 2009.


Awards and Honors

  • Senior Scholar award from the Association of American Geographers and the National Science Foundation, 2008.
  • Academic Higher Education Advisory Board for Geography for McGraw-Hill Publishing, 2007 to present.
  • Fulbright Scholar Award to Latvia, U.S. Department of State, 2005.
  • Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers: The Best Teachers in America Selected By The Best Students, 2005, (have to be nominated by students listed in National Deans List who can select one teacher “who made a difference” in their education)
  • President’s Advisory Committee for Liberal Arts and International Studies, Colorado School of Mines and Engineering, 2004 to present,