Dr. Heather Smith

Heather Smith (she/her/hers) is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at UNC Charlotte where she serves as the Director of the Urban Studies Minor and the Graduate Program Director for the Geography PhD and MA. She is also Faculty Fellow with the Levine Scholars Program where a primary responsibility is oversight of civic engagement and undergraduate research initiatives.

As an urban social geographer, Heather’s teaching and research explores transitioning societies and restructuring cities. Immigrant receptivity and experience in 21st Century Gateways and Latinx migration to the ‘New South” are areas of longstanding focus Recent research explores the dynamics of Canadian migration into and from the US. Engaged scholarship and the building of cross-institutional and multi-tiered community partnerships are hallmarks of her work as are participatory research, mixed methodologies and intervention development.

She completed her PhD in Geography at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, MA in Geography at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, and BA in Geography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a Morehead Scholar. In 2014 Heather was awarded UNC Charlotte’s Provost’s Faculty Award for Community Engagement.