Geography BS, Environmental and Resource Geography Specialization

This specialization engages students in courses that primarily use field and laboratory techniques to study Earth’s environmental systems and the human dimensions of resource use and allocation. The curriculum is designed to provide majors with an applied approach for developing data collection and analysis skills, as well as an ability to evaluate the societal and physical dimensions of environmental sustainability. This specialization places a strong emphasis on understanding human-environmental interactions, including climate change, hazards, and watershed and landscape dynamics in aquatic, mountain, arid, and forest environments, particularly the Pacific Northwest. Students who complete this specialization will be prepared for careers in natural resource management and are likely to be employed by federal, state, and tribal agencies, as well as private consulting firms. Students interested in graduate study in the field of environmental geography or resource management should work closely with their advisor to tailor this specialization to their particular field of interest.

Program Learner Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Observe and interpret the world around them in terms of its physical and cultural landscapes, and to articulate the powerful concept of place that is operative at many scales, from the local to the global.
• Think critically about spatial patterns and spatial interaction and physical systems modify each other and control the Earth’s surface and resources.
• Have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be successful in their chosen fields.
• Maintain a teaching-learning facility and major program of study that expresses the integrative, synthesizing character of geography as a discipline.
• Augment regional expertise in scientific knowledge of earth systems and the relationships of human societies with the physical environment
• Encourage faculty research and public service, and support student involvement in faculty research and civic engagement.
• Engage alumni and community partners more involved in program activities and events.