Dr. Selima Sultana

Selima Sultana is an Assistant Professor of Geography at Auburn University, Alabama. She earned the Ph.D. in Geography with concentrations in Urban Geography and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from the University of Georgia in 2000, and received an M.S. degree in urban planning from Georgia State University in 1993. She earned her B.S. and an M.S. degree in Geography from Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1987 and 1989 respectively. Dr. Sultana’s research background is in urban planning, and more specifically the contemporary processes of urban economic restructuring and social change and sustainable urban development, in which she uses GIS technology to address urban problems.

Her dissertation investigated the effects of urban economic and social restructuring on commuting patterns in Atlanta. Based on her dissertation she has already published several articles in leading geographic journals such as Urban Geography and Southeastern Geographer, and has forthcoming papers in Economic Geography and Professional Geographer. Although her professional and research experience to this point has been limited to the US, the application domain of her current research interests are not similarly constrained. Recently, she has been involved in research in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in order to analyze contemporary urbanization processes and their associated effects on urban spatial patterns and commuting. She is an active faculty member of the Auburn University Peak of Excellence Research Group, in which she is investigating the environmental consequences of land use changes over the last 200 years in West Georgia using GIS.

Prior to taking her academic position at Auburn University, Dr. Sultana taught at the University of Georgia and also worked as an intern-planner at the City of Atlanta's Bureau of Planning. As part of her work she compiled a socioeconomic database to support plans for developing disadvantaged urban areas in Atlanta. She was also involved in setting up appropriate mechanisms to coordinate public and private agencies and to direct public participation in development projects. She is currently the vice-chair of the Alabama Academy of Science and is actively involved in various Bangladeshi non-profit organizations, such as the Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN), that address various environmental problems related to current urbanization patterns as well as socio-economic problems in Bangladesh.