Michelle Ritchie, PhD
Assistant Professor
Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Dr. Michelle Ritchie is an Assistant Professor in the Institute for Disaster Management. She also holds affiliate faculty appointments in the Atmospheric Sciences Program, the Department of Geography, the Environmental Ethics Certificate Program, and the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies. She earned her dual-title Ph.D. in Geography and Climate Science from Pennsylvania State University in 2021.
At IDM, Dr. Ritchie coordinates the undergraduate minor program and teaches a range of courses, including First-Year Odyssey Seminars, DMAN 3750: How to Survive the Apocalypse, and DMAN 7450: Disasters and GIS. She also leads the Ritchie Research Lab, where she mentors students in developing and carrying out research projects, securing funding, and presenting at conferences.
Her research focuses on how communities experience, perceive, and respond to rapid environmental change, particularly in Arctic and Atlantic regions. She serves as a principal investigator on the “Arctic, Climate, and Earthquakes: Seismic Resilience and Adaptation of Arctic Infrastructure and Social Systems amid Changing Climate” project, funded through the National Science Foundation’s Navigating the New Arctic initiative. Her work in Iceland compliments these efforts by examining the social-ecological and place-based dimensions of climate adaptation at the household and community scale, building on a long-term foundation of climate change adaptation research in Arctic regions.
Dr. Ritchie also engages in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research focused on active and collaborative learning practices, curriculum innovation, and student engagement. She was awarded the 2023 UGA First Year Odyssey Seminar Teaching Award and the 2023 Southeastern Division of the AAG Undergraduate Mentoring Award in recognition of her excellence in teaching and leadership.
Outside of academia, she enjoys spending time with her pets, family, and friends. She can often be found gardening, reading, listening to live music, or playing pool.
