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Geography & Environmental Science

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Broaden your horizons in the Geography and Environmental Science department through extensive hands-on experience both in and out of the classroom.

The Department of Geography and Environmental Science develops skills to address pressing environmental and societal issues including land-use change, natural resource management, climate change, natural hazards and disaster management, population growth and migration, and globalization.

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Interested in one of our majors, minors or certificates? Fill out the declaration form to declare a major or minor.

Undergraduate programs

Geography

Undergrad major Undergrad minor Undergrad certificate

Geography is the science of place and space. Geographers ask where things are located on the surface of the Earth, why they are located there, how places differ from one another, and how people interact with the environment. Geographers have skills in cartography and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). There are four main branches of geography: human geography, physical geography, environmental geography, and geographic information science (GIS).

Areas of study

Environmental Science Concentration

Environmental science applies knowledge from the natural sciences to understand issues in the environment with the goal of protecting the Earth and human health.

Undergrad major View a sample plan for Environmental Science Catalogfor Environmental Science

Geographic Information Science Concentration

Undergrad major Undergrad minor Undergrad certificate View a sample plan for Geographic Information Science Catalogfor Geographic Information Science

Humans & the Environment Emphasis

Undergrad major Undergrad minor View a sample plan for Humans & the Environment Catalogfor Humans & the Environment

Environmental Science

Undergrad major

Rooted in geography, biology, chemistry and microbiology, and environmental studies, environmental science applies knowledge from the natural and social sciences to understand issues in the environment with the goal of protecting the Earth and human health.

Areas of study

Earth Science

Undergrad minor

Earth Science aims to understand the structures and processes of the world. This includes how these phenomena shape the land and air around us, and how we, in turn, impact Earth's environmental systems. It encompasses fields such as geography, geology, environmental science, meteorology and climatology.

Geoarchaeology

Undergrad minor

Geoarchaeology is a field that uses skills and knowledge from physical geography to answer archaeological questions. With a minor in geoarchaeology, you will begin to understand clues in the natural landscape that can lead to new discoveries about the environment people lived in long ago. A geoarchaeologist not only has a good foundation in archaeology, but also an understanding of how to apply methods of landscape evolution and an understanding of environmental change. 

Graduate program

Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science

Graduate certificate This certificate prepares graduate students with the technological and theoretical skills needed to apply geospatial tools.
Slideshow image for Video of UAS
Slideshow image for Water research
Students hiking in the bluff
Slideshow image for GIS Lab
Student working on core sample
Students with using equipment in field
professor and student working with drone in field
Taking measurements to prepare for class
Students looking through microscopes
Students using surveying equipment
Students Hiking the Bluffs
Tundra Swan Migration Fieldtrip
Trail Mapping in the Bluffs