Overview

The Department of Geography and Environment was established in 2010 which offer undergraduate (B.Sc.) and graduate (M.S) degrees in geography and Environment. We endeavor to maintain a balanced program of research, undergraduate and graduate teaching, and outreach and service that covers the breadth of geography. The Geography department blends sophisticated theoretical analysis and interpretation with real-world problem study.Our students are actively involved in community service through internships, service learning, and senior projects focused on environmental and social justice issues.The graduate majors employ social and political theories; develop the ability to construct and analyze maps and other types of geovisualization; collect, evaluate and interpret quantitative and qualitative data; and compose clear and compelling research reports and articles. Physical geographers in our department investigate patterns and processes associated with the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere, and explore the causes and consequences of their environmental variability over time and space. Specialized expertise includes climatology and meteorology, fluvial and aeolian geomorphology, hydrology, and biogeography. Many of our physical geographers utilize geospatial technologies in their work. Human geography in our department emphasizes questions of identity, social difference, and inequality in diverse geographical contexts. Our human geographers are also keen to explore place-based transformations stemming from conflict, immigration, economic development, and changing modes of governance. Research and teaching topics include urbanization, cultural landscapes, globalization, migration, economic geography, and world regions. Faculty working in this area explore interactions between human societies and the natural environment and seek to understand how people shape and adapt to changing environmental conditions. Our faculty embrace an integrative perspective that considers complex interrelationships between natural systems, human behavior, and systems of governance from local to global scales. Our faculty specialize in a range of topic areas, including political ecology, human adaptation to environmental change, natural resource use and management, and environmental hazards. GIS in our department engages with a wide spectrum of geospatial technologies, applications, and methodologies that together produce the Digital Earth. Our GIS faculty and staff use geospatial techniques to address geographic questions relating to hazards, public health, population, environment and climate change.