Michael Marshall
Position
Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, Director of the Social Ecology Studio
Email
mmars@uga.edu
Academic Area
Photography & Expanded Media
Location
Lamar Dodd School of Art, Main Building, Room S270J
Office Hours
By Appointment Only
Link(s)
Artist website
Research Focus
Interdisciplinary Arts Research • Sustainability & Resilience • Environmental Humanities • Community Engagement • Landscape, Place & Cultural Memory • Art, Science & Environmental Inquiry
Biography
Michael Marshall is Professor of Art and Director of the Social Ecology Studio. His work explores how creative practice can serve as a catalyst for interdisciplinary research, connecting the arts with environmental science, public scholarship, and community engagement.
Through the Social Ecology Studio, Marshall brings together students, faculty, researchers, and community partners to investigate questions of sustainability, resilience, place, and cultural memory. His projects combine creative inquiry with field research and collaborative engagement, creating new ways of understanding the relationships between people, environments, and the systems that shape everyday life.
Trained in both physics and art, Marshall approaches creative practice as a form of knowledge production. His research spans photography, social practice, environmental humanities, and participatory research, with a particular interest in how the arts can foster deeper public understanding of complex social and ecological challenges.
Marshall is recognized for building collaborative research environments where students work on real-world projects. Whether in the studio, the field, or the classroom, his teaching emphasizes curiosity, experimentation, and the ability to navigate complex problems across disciplinary boundaries.
He joined the University of Georgia faculty in 2001 after earning his MFA from Arizona State University. His contributions to teaching and public engagement have been recognized through numerous honors, including the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship, the UGA Sustainability Outstanding Faculty Award, and the Society for Photographic Education’s Honored Educator Award.
Michael Marshall, Tree Ash. Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Marshall, Log Yard. Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Marshall, Hot Burn. Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Marshall, Mission Mine. Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Marshall, Longleaf Road. Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Marshall, Log Loader. Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Marshall, In the woodmill. Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Marshall, Selden Park. Courtesy of the artist.
