Emily Skop, PhD

• Urbanization and International Migration
• Refugees and Placemaking
• Ethos of Care
• Complex and Shifting Landscape of Higher Education

• PhD, Geography, Arizona State University, 2002
• MA, Geography, Arizona State University, 1997
• BA, Geography, University of Miami, 1995

• GES 1980 World Regional Geography
• GES 1990 Intro to Human Geography
• GES 4630/5630 Inequality USA
• GES 4640/5640 MegaCities
• GES 4730/5730 Population Geography
• GES 4780/5780 Global Migration

• PI, Collaborative Research: Conference: Strategies to Mitigate Implicit Bias and Promote an Ethos of Care in the Research Enterprise: A Convening. NSF GRANTED Program. NSF-2324402 with Risha Raquelle, AAG, January 2024-December 2024).
• Co-PI, NSF Project CREST: Changing Research Experiences, Structures, and (in)Tolerance through the Adaptation of Promising Equity Practices, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, CO. July 2021-May 2025.
• Chair, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, CO. July 2018-June 2021.
• Founding Director of the UCCS Global Intercultural Research Center (GLINT).

• Mendez, Sylvia; Tygret, Jennifer; Smith, Jessi; Watson, Kathryn; Poe, Jennifer; McNear, Kelly; Song, Heather; Skop, Emily; & Daniels, Elizabeth. 2025. The Pathway to Full Professor: Associate professor women’s institutional concerns. Journal of Culture and Values in Education 8(1): 109-126.
• Skop, Emily. 2024. Staying with the Trouble: Reflections on Knowledge Production in Migration Studies. Article in Special Issue “Navigating Research with Immigrant Institutions” in Geographical Review 114(5): 691–708.  
• Smith, J.L., Mendez, S.L., Poe, J., Johnson, C., Wilson, D.K., Daniels, E.A., Song, H, and Skop, Emily. 2024. From Mandate to Co-Create: Leading the Development of Inclusive Performance Evaluation Criteria. EDI: an International Journal 43(9): 88-102.  
• Skop, Emily. 2024. Graphic Novels: A Pedagogical Device for Understanding Core Concepts and Encouraging Empathy in Global Migration and the Experiences of Displaced Persons. The Geography Teacher 21(2): 72-78.
• Skop, Emily and Stephen Suh. 2023. Ethnicity and Transnationalism. Chapter in A Companion to the North American Landscape, edited by Chris Post, Geoff Buckley and Alyson Grenier. London: Routledge Press, 101-110.
• Gibbes, Cerian and Emily Skop. 2022. Disruption, Discovery, and Field Courses: A Case Study of Student Engagement during a Global Pandemic, The Professional Geographer. DOI: 10.1080/00330124.2021.1970593
• Skop, Emily, Martina Angela Careta, Caroline Faria, and Jessi Smith. 2021. An Ethos of Care: Pledging to make research collaborations more equitable. Inside Higher Education. October 15, 2021.
• Hunter, Lori, Stephanie Koning, Elizabeth Fussell, Brian King, Andrea Rishworth, Alexis Merdjanoff, Raya Muttarak, Fernando Riosmena, Daniel H Simon, Emily Skop, Jamon Van Den Hoek. 2021. Climate Change and Human Displacement: Futures for Human Health. Population and Environment. DOI: 10.1007/s11111-021-00377-7
• Gibbes, Cerian and Emily Skop. 2020. The messiness of co-produced research with gatekeepers of resettled refugee communities. Journal of Cultural Geography.

• Inaugural El Pomar C3 Innovation Fellow. University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Fall 2025 - present.
• Visiting Fellow in AP Human Geography. The College Board. Summer 2025.
• Colorado Capital Conference Invited Participant, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, Colorado Mesa University and University of Colorado. June 2025 (rescheduled).
• CU System 2025 Inclusive Excellence Award for Project CREST. University of Colorado, Spring 2025.
• Million Dollar Club Inductee, Office of Research, University of Colorado Colorado Springs. 2024.
• LAS Dean’s Scholar Award, College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Fall 2024.
• Excellence in Leadership Fellow, University of Colorado System, Fall 2019 - Spring 2020.
• Distinguished Scholar Award in Ethnic Geography, Ethnic Geography Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers, April 2018.
• UCCS Faculty Award for Outstanding Contribution to Diversity and Inclusiveness, Spring 2017. 

Curriculum Vitae

What do you value and care about outside of your professional duties?

Dr. Skop values the ‘environment more than the human world’. She finds meaning in connecting with people through artistic creation. She enjoys the art of weaving, specifically weaving with natural materials like leaves, grass, roots, and more, and enjoys connecting with nature and talking to the trees. She feels it is important to her to use her resources and opportunities to raise her voice against injustice, describing herself as passionate about those who have been “missing, silenced, unheard or harmed”. For her, it is hard to untangle professional from personal because she takes very seriously the idea that she needs to use whatever she has access to in her professional life to fight against the injustice in the world. Her values reflect a deep care for both the environment and social justice, expressed through creativity and ethical action.

What encouraged you to go into (and stay in) higher education?

Dr. Skop was encouraged to go into higher education for a few reasons. First, the flexibility of the summer months. Having that time to think, read, reflect, and ask big questions is crucial to her and to many of her peers. She also shares that professors and mentors played an important role, offering her encouragement to continue into higher education and study abroad as well. She says that what has kept her in higher education is her desire to make an impact. This impact, she explains, connects across different realms - “Nature; missing, silenced, unheard, harmed,” “ Refugees; missing silenced, unheard, harmed” and “Higher education: faculty; missing, silenced, unheard, harmed.” Dr. Skop sees her work as being a voice for this and making an impact, and staying in higher education has given her more resources and a bigger voice to speak out against these issues.

What are your own professional goals and aspirations?

Dr. Skop described her goals and aspirations as rooted in living in the moment, explaining she has achieved a lot in her career and now wants to be more present in the moment outside of her career. She noted that new opportunities present themselves often; however, she chooses to decide in the moment whether something is beneficial and helps others. She also noted that she would like to be more involved with her art, saying that participating in a local art show would be fun, as well as attending more concerts with her husband. She says she really cares about and enjoys music, and that she was a DJ in college. She also talks about the balance of work and life in academia, discussing her ‘ethos of care’ to think about how we integrate our whole selves in academic work.

What is your favorite place? 

When asked about her favorite place, Dr. Skop describes several places. One is Washington D.C., fourth floor of the East Gallery Calder Wing, which she called “her place to go, her sanctuary,” and described as “a very peaceful space for her.” She also spoke about a particular walking path that takes her into an area where nature has taken over, where she loves to “walk and watch nature change.” Ultimately, she said her favorite places are “any place where she can watch nature changing.” She also mentioned “Japan” as another place that stands out for her.