Dr. Eric C. Ewert, Professor and Department Chair

Everest Basecamp, Oct. 2023

Mt. Everest Basecamp, Oct. 2023

Office: LH 361

Phone: 801-626-6197

Email: eewert@weber.edu

Education

Ph.D. in geography, University of Idaho

M.A. in geography, University of Oregon

BS in geology (cum laude), Northern Arizona University

Academic Interests

Professor Ewert's current research and teaching interests lie in environmental studies, the American West, population, historical and economic geography and geospatial technologies. Dr. Ewert has lived in western states from Arizona to Alaska. A lifelong and mesmerized observer of the region, his research and writing focus on the rapid demographic and economic change occuring in the American West and the costs associated with such environmental and cultural transgressions. He has authored more than three dozen articles, book chapters, editorials, and maps, delivered nearly thirty papers at regional and national conferences, and traveled widely in the Americas and Europe.  He currently serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography, Environment & Sustainability at Weber State University.

Courses Taught at Weber State University

  • GEOG 1000 Natural Environments of the Earth
  • GEOG 1300 Places & Peoples of the World
  • GEOG 1520 Geography of the United States and Canada
  • GEOG 1790 Exploring Our World Through Geospatial Technology
  • GEOG 3210 Urban Geography
  • GEOG 3360 Economic Geography
  • GEOG 3450 Cartography/GIS
  • GEOG 3460 Advanced Cartography/GIS
  • GEOG 3540 Geography of Latin America and the Caribbean
  • GEOG 3790 Geography Research Seminar
  • GEOG 4800 Individual Research
  • GEOG 4810 Exploring Our World Through Geospatial Science
  • GEOG 4840 Geospatial Internship
  • GEOG 4890 Cooperative Work Experience
  • GEOG 4950 Advanced Regional Field Studies
  • GEOG 4990 Senior Seminar in Geography

Courses Taught at Other Institutions

  • Land and Resource Regulation
  • World Regional Geography
  • Human Geography
  • Physical Geography
  • Introduction to Anthropology
  • Social Science Freshman Seminar
  • Field Experience
  • Environment Amid Changing Values

Selected Publications

Articles, Book Chapters, and Maps:

  • “Map of Great Salt Lake Region, Utah,” in Trentelman, Carla Koons. 2020. “Relationships between Humans and Great Salt Lake: Dynamics of Change.” Pp. 63-86 in Baxter, B.K and Butler, J.K., eds. Great Salt Lake Biology: A Terminal Lake in a Time of Change. Springer, Netherlands.

  • “Designed for Clean Air: The Role of Urban Planning and Transit in Solving Wasatch Front Air Quality Issues.” Chapter 9 in Hal Crimmel, Editor, Utah’s Air Quality Issues: Problems and Solutions, The University of Utah Press, 2020.

  • “Searching for the ‘Old West’ in the Theme Towns of the New West,” (Review of Social Sciences, Vol. 01, No. 01: January 2016, pages 1-14).

  • “The Coming Challenge: Population Growth and Water Decline in Utah.” Chapter 1 in Hal Crimmel, Editor, Desert Water: The Future of Utah’s Water Resources, The University of Utah Press, September, 2014.
  • “Promoting a Green Academic Program,” Teaching/Learning Matters, ASA’s Newsletter for the Section on Teaching and Learning in Sociology, Volume 42, Number 2, Fall 2013.
  • Developing a Vision and Plan for the Northern Utah Geospatial Technology Education Program (NUGeoTec). A NSF-ATE peer reviewed and funded proposal, pages 1-45, June 1, 2012.
  • “Maps of Great Salt Lake Region, Utah,” in Carla Koons Trentelman. “Place Dynamics in a Mixed Amenity Place: Great Salt Lake, Utah.” (Human Ecology Review. 18(2):126-138, 2011).
  • "Rural Place Redevelopment and the 'Rise of Theme Towns.'" Published Abstracts, Annual Conference Southwestern Division of the Association of American Geographers, Conference Guide, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, 2008.
  • “From Hinterland to Bellwether: A Century of Demographic and Economic Change in the Pacific Northwest” (The Journal of the West, Vol. 45, No. 1, Winter 2006, pages 41-51).
  • "Lemhi Pass and Tendoy, Idaho," in America's Historic Sites (Pasadena: Salem Press, 2000).
  • "Setting the Pacific Northwest Stage: The Influence of the Natural Environment," Chapter 1 in Dale D. Goble and Paul W. Hirt, eds., Northwest Lands, Northwest Peoples: Readings in Environmental History (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999).
  • "Are Crowds Better than Cows? The Conversion to Tourism, Recreation, and Retirement in the Pacific Northwest's Amenity Towns." Published Abstracts, Planetary Stewardship: an Interdisciplinary Conference on the Environment, Conference Guide, The Borah Foundation, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 1998.
  • "From Extractive to Attractive: Demographic and Economic Boom and Bust in the Non-Metropolitan American West." F. Andrew Schoolmaster, editor, (Papers and Proceedings of the Applied Geography Conferences, Volume 20, 1997, page 354).

Editorials:

  • “We’re still suffering the mighty consequences of Utah’s “Mighty 5” campaign Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, May 13, 2024.

  • “Utah Republicans traffic in fear politics” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, February 11, 2024.

  • “Who does the I-15 expansion really benefit?” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, November 17, 2023.

  • “Only one scenario could save the Once Great Salt Lake” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, December 2, 2022.

  • "This is not a drought.  This is aridification" Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, July 15, 2022.

  • “Utah Legislature moves from embarrassing to appalling” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, November 19, 2021.

  • “The endless hucksterism worked.  Utah is the fastest-growing state for the last decade” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, April 22, 2021.

  • “Maybe Utahns will finally vote in their own best interests” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, October 11, 2020.

  • “Righting our botched COVID-19 response is just the beginning of geospatial technology’s power” Editorial, The Standard Examiner, August 31, 2020.
  • “Want to clean the air?  Plan for people instead of cars” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, March 1, 2020.
  • "Utah's true religion is growth" Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, May 25, 2019.
  • “For opponents of Utah monuments, it’s not about the facts” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, May 29, 2018.
  • “How about an elected government that looks like Utah?," Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, March 25, 2017.
  • “Rep. Rob Bishop’s Public Lands Initiative is a public lands disaster” Editorial, The Standard Examiner, September 15, 2016.
  • “Decline of the Once Great Salt Lake” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, November 29, 2015.
  • “Snowpack Says Utahns Need a More Conservative Approach to Water” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, February 7, 2015.
  • “State of Utah a Single-Use Land Mismanager” Editorial, The Standard Examiner, December 13, 2014.
  • “Time to Bite Bullet and Raise Fuel Tax” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, February 1, 2014.
  • “Climate Change: Finally, at Least One Conservative Gets It” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, September 29, 2013.
  • “Utah’s Misguided Land Grab” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, June 16, 2012.
  • “Utah Growing Like a Third-World Country” Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, March 26, 2011.
  • “Welcome to Utah – Just Don’t Breathe” Editorial, The Standard Examiner, January 24, 2010.