University of North Texas 
Martin Aucoin
Martin Aucoin (B.S. in Geography, 2014) didn’t begin his time at UNT intending to major in Geography. That decision was crystallized after a formative summer that reshaped how he understood research, culture, and place.
As a sophomore, Martin participated in a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program that took him to Arizona for a project blending ethnography and geospatial surveying. The experience revealed something powerful: Geography offered a framework capable of holding lived experience and spatial analysis in the same conversation.
“The combination was a really powerful way to do research.”
When he returned to Denton that fall, he changed his major. Around that time, he connected with Dr. Matthew Fry, whose mentorship would become central to his academic trajectory. Martin took Fry’s Latin American Geography course, worked as a research assistant on natural gas projects, and completed an honors thesis under his supervision examining local food systems in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. That project required extensive time in the field with North Texas farmers and resulted in Martin’s first publication – one that continues to generate interest today.
“I draw on the lessons I learned at UNT Geography daily.”
He credits the department’s emphasis on critical thinking and strong research design as foundational. Rather than focusing narrowly on technical skills, faculty pushed students to ask better questions – questions attentive to culture, environment, economy, and power. That empirically grounded yet critical approach continues to guide his work.
After graduating in 2014, Martin joined an AmeriCorps teaching program in Massachusetts before entering the Peace Corps in 2015. He spent several years in The Gambia working in agroforestry and agricultural extension, deepening his understanding of how environmental systems intersect with community livelihoods.
Upon returning to the United States, he pursued an M.A. in Geography at West Virginia University, where he evaluated development initiatives for the International Organization for Migration and the Green Climate Fund. He then began his Ph.D. at Boston University, where he’s now finishing his dissertation as a Graduate Research Fellow in Anthropology.
Over the course of his doctoral studies, Martin has taught undergraduate courses, collaborated in research labs, and conducted international research. His dissertation examines globalization in America’s poultry industries – an unexpected direction that reflects the evolving nature of scholarly inquiry.
“The journey along the way was anything but expected. I never would have expected to spend five years studying chickens.”
Yet the topic is quintessentially geographic. His research explores how global supply chains, labor systems, rural economies, and environmental pressures intersect. The interdisciplinary training he received at UNT prepared him to move fluidly across methods and collaborate with scholars in other fields.
“I think Geography’s strength is really its interdisciplinarity.”
Few disciplines, he notes, draw together the social and natural sciences as cohesively. That broad methodological grounding has allowed him to work with biologists, policy analysts, and philosophers alike. Geography provided both intellectual flexibility and analytical rigor – skills that have proven essential in addressing complex global systems.
Martin remains particularly proud of his undergraduate research on Dallas-Fort Worth farmers’ markets. Spending a summer embedded in North Texas food systems not only shaped his academic trajectory but demonstrated how meaningful scholarship can emerge from local engagement. It’s a reminder that impactful research often begins close to home.
Reflecting on the present moment, Martin acknowledges that higher education can feel uncertain. Yet he believes the intellectual tools Geography offers are more important than ever.
“The skills and perspectives you’re learning at UNT Geography are more important than ever in such a rapidly changing world.”
His advice to students is simple: persist. The path may not unfold exactly as planned, but the ability to think critically about place, scale, and systems creates opportunities in ways that are not always immediately visible.
As he prepares to complete his Ph.D., Martin has also accepted a position as Senior Research Manager at William & Mary’s Global Research Institute, where he’ll continue working at the intersection of research, policy, and global systems. His journey – from North Texas farmers’ markets to West African agroforestry to global poultry supply chains – illustrates the expansive reach of geographic inquiry. It also reflects the enduring impact of mentorship, interdisciplinary training, and applied research.
For Martin, the connection to UNT remains constant.
“There was never an option to quit. I always Mean Green.”
Wherever his scholarship takes him next, the foundation built in Denton continues to shape his work – an enduring testament to the strength of Geography and the lasting pride of being Mean Green.
Martin Aucoin during Dr. Harry Williams' 2014 field school