Program Overview

Environmental Studies — Geography Concentration

Environmental Studies with a Geography Concentration is a program that explores the relationships between human activity and natural systems. Geography is the science of place and space, and geographers ask where things are located on the surface of the Earth, why they are located where they are, how places differ from one another, and how people interact with the natural environment.

As an environmental geographer, you can make a difference working in the fields of geospatial analysis, teaching, planning, natural resource management, conservation and restoration, and more. Graduates with this emphasis have assumed positions in State and National Parks, the Forest Service, college and universities, non-profit organizations, and the private sector.

Sample Careers

• Cartographer
• GIS Analyst
• Tourism Industry Professional
• Water Resource Manager
• Park Ranger
• Restoration and Conservation Analyst
• Forest Service Employee
• Educator

Requirements

Choose 20 credits of coursework from the lists below. We strongly encourage you to take at least one course in each of the three knowledge areas listed below.

Human and Regional Geography

• ENVS 331 - Geographies of Canada (Credits: 4)
• or C/AM 331 - Geographies of Canada (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 332 - The Pacific Northwest: Society and Environment (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 333 - East Asia: Society and Environment (Credits: 4)
• or EAST 333 - East Asia: Society and Environment (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 342 - Geography of the World Economy (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 426 - Water Resources (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 431 - Pacific Rim: Environment, Economy and Sustainability (Credits: 4)
• or EAST 431 - Pacific Rim: Environment, Economy and Sustainability (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 441 - Society, Space, and Natural Resources (Credits: 4)
• or C/AM 441 - Society, Space, and Natural Resources (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 444 - Geography, Colonialism, and the Pacific Northwest (Credits: 4)
• or C/AM 442 - Geography, Colonialism, and the Pacific Northwest (Credits: 4)
• PLSC 383 - Political Geography (Credits: 5)
• SALI 201 - Introduction to the Salish Sea (Credits: 4)
• SALI 202 - Introduction to the Salish Sea - Lab (Credits: 1)
• UEPP 343 - Urbanization: Processes and Patterns (Credits: 4)
• UEPP 375 - Indigenous Placemaking: Decolonizing Space and Place (Credits: 4)
• or C/AM 375 - Indigenous Placemaking: Decolonizing Space and Place (Credits: 4)
• UEPP 443 - Social Justice and the City (Credits: 4)

Physical Geography

• ENVS 325 - Mountain Geography (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 326 - Climatology (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 327 - The Soil Environment (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 392 - Introduction to Climate Change (Credits: 4)
• or ESCI 392 - Introduction to Climate Change (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 427 - Soil Landscapes (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 428 - Biogeography (Credits: 4)

Geographic Analysis Tools and Techniques

• ENVS 320 - GIS I: Introduction to Geographic Information Science (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 418 - GIS II: Cartography and Geovisualization (Credits: 5)
• ENVS 419 - Applications in GIS (Credits: 3)
• ENVS 420 - GIS III: Analysis and Modeling (Credits: 5)
• ENVS 421 - GIS IV: Geospatial Data Creation and Management (Credits: 5)
• ENVS 423 - GIS Processing and Analysis (Credits: 3)
• ENVS 442 - Regional Environmental and Economic Resource Modeling (Credits: 4)
• or UEPP 442 - Regional Environmental and Economic Resource Modeling (Credits: 4)
• ENVS 499O - Professional Geographer Seminar (Credits: 1)
• ENVS 499Q - Topics in Geographic Information Science Seminar (Credits: 1)
• ESCI 442 - Introduction to Remote Sensing (Credits: 5)