Physical Geography, a wide-ranging scientific field dealing with the diverse physical and biological features of Earth, their characteristics, processes, patterns and interactions with humans.
Physical Geography is connected to physical, chemical, biological, geological, environmental and social processes and changes in the world's land areas and their water, ice and geological formations, climate systems and ecosystems, in relation to each other and to human societies.
Our research in Physical Geography include spatial analyzes of phenomena and their development over time, area studies of different places and regions, studies of relationships and complexity in linked natural-social systems, and studies of global change and the Earth system as a whole. The studies deal with, for example, changes in land formations, glaciers and permafrost, ecosystems and biodiversity, soil, water and other natural resources and environmental aspects, as well as their interactions with the climate and various societal developments, such as urbanization.
We research in a number of different specific research areas and run two research stations: Tarfala Research Station next to Kebnekaise in Lappland and Navarino Environmental Observatory (NEO) in Messinia, Greece.