Presentation and discussion by department faculty of research areas in the department. Systematic and technique areas of emphasis will be presented, as well as department facilities and research collaborations with other institutions.

Fundamental issues of research in geography and related areas: the geographic perspective, scientific reading/writing and problem formulation, research techniques, the scientific enterprise, and science and society.

Directed readings and research leading to a draft thesis proposal (MA students) or a systematic literature review in prospective dissertation area (Ph.D. students); participation in seminars discussing ongoing graduate research.

A series of lectures and seminars on diverse research topics in human and physical geography, by visiting speakers or department faculty.

Required course for students in the Interdisciplinary Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences emphasis.

Principles of radiation emission; radiative transfer equation and some solution methods; surface interactions; instrumentation; applications to remote sensing and energy budgets in atmosphere, ocean, and other media.

Quantitative methods (operations research, applied mathematics and statistics, numerical simulation) are used to analyze and synthesize complex water resources systems. Topics include economic analysis, hydropower, flood control, groundwater management, and reservoirs.

A process-based quantitative study of soil development as driving variables of climate, biota, lithology, topography and geologic time. Emphasis on interactions among soil and other earth system components: atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere.

Introduction to analytical methods for geography research. Topics include: calculus, differential equations and linear algebra. Emphasis is placed on solving geographically relevant problems and their documentation.

Statistical principles and practice of analyzing geographical data. Topics include bivariate and multiple regression and other multivariate techniques. Emphasis on exploratory data analysis and graphical techniques.

Overview of key concepts in spatial statistics, including measures of spatial association and models for spatial regression, point processes and random fields. Geostatistical methods for analysis and interpolating continuous and area (lattice) data.

Issues, problems, technologies, policies, plans, and the transportation-environment relationship. Transportation systems simulation, trip-based and activity data collection and model building. Applications in planning, design and operations. Lab: Critically examine transportation plans and programs and explore travel surveys. Lectures same as 111A; graduate students write an issue paper on modeling and discuss it in class.

Transportation data collection and travel survey design. Revealed and stated choice data and their collection in laboratory and field studies. Regression models and systems simulation. Applications in policy analysis and traffic operations. Lab: Data analysis to develop models used in typical regional simulation.

Time-use, activity analysis, and travel behavior in space, time, and social context. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data collection and data analysis with emphasis on the use of time, travel, technology, information, and telecommunication. Applications using simultaneous equations, multilevel, latent class, and structural equations models.

Passive remote sensing (VIS/NIR,Thermal microwave). Discussion of advanced sensors, techniques, modeling and applications in each spectral region. Includes a set of computer-based laboratory exercises. A final paper and oral presentation of a research project using remote sensing is required.

Active remote sensing. Discussion of advanced sensors, techniques, modeling and applications of active remote sensing including Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). Includes a set of computer-based laboratory exercises. A final paper and oral presentation of a research project using remote sensing is required.

Study of current research in regional analysis. The topic will differ each year and will be announced in advance.

Logic and techniques of conducting empirical research in human geography. Covers hypothesis formulation, literature sources, data collection (including surveys), experimental and non-experimental design, data analysis, and ethical treatment of human subjects.

Advanced seminar in methods of regional economic and population analysis. The population module covers the theory and construction of the multi-regional life table and projection model. The economic module reviews input-output models, regional econometric models, and CGE models. Other topics include data availability, incomplete data analysis, and demo-economic models.

Detailed studies of selected social, economic, and physical problems related to modern cities.

Theories and methods related to acquiring, representing, and analyzing knowledge of complex large-scale environments.

Survey of behavioral approaches in a variety of areas of geography.

Theory and research on cognitive issues in geographic information science. Perception, memory, reasoning, communication, human factors in digital worlds.

Study and critique of advanced research work in cartography. Topic will vary from year to year.

Summit in which students act as expert scientists of different countries that participate in environmental treaty negotiations. Graduate students advise undergraduates, write documents, write presentations, ensure that science is understood and play a role in the negotiations.

Advanced substantive investigation of the geography of human population. The geographical dimensions of fertility, mortality and migration are explored. Important recent and classic demographic literature is reviewed.

Exploration of global and regional patterns of demographic change especially as they relate to significant economic development or environmental issues. Course readings are selected to provide a broad overview of current research frontiers in addition to classic readings.

An introduction to mathematical and statistical demography. Primary emphasis is on spatially-explicit methods: multiregional life tables, multiregional projection, spatial statistics/econometrics applied to population, and life course analysis of migration. Matlab and SAS are used for applications.

Examines land use-land cover changes across ecosystems. Theoretical and methodological challenges to linking biophysical, socio-economic, and remote sensing/GIS analysis. Seminar includes review of current literature focusing on detection and monitoring, driving forces, and impacts of land modifications.

Quantitative and computational study of land-atmosphere hydrologic interactions; modeling of surface water and groundwater processes, regional groundwater systems and solute transport.

Physical processes involved in global warming: carbon dioxide increase and uptake; role of clouds, oceans and biosphere; consequences: sea level changes, hydrological cycle intensification, etc. Climate modeling and predictions.

This graduate seminar supplements Geography 155 with a further exploration of primary texts probing historical and spatial patterns of society, politics, demographics, and the environment with an emphasis on human-environment interactions. Students are responsible for participating in class discussions on the assigned readings, for a term paper, and class presentation.

Examination of the global cycles of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and water; focus is on terrestrial environments; topics include photosynthesis, respiration, and interactions of humans with these cycles.

An examination of the optical properties and radiative transfers in natural waters. Applications discussed include modeling of solar radiation penetration, relectance and transmittance at the air-sea interface, and ocean color remote sensing.

Detailed studies of upper ocean dynamics and physical processes. Topics may include mesoscale dynamics, mixed layer modeling, radiative transfer, turbulent mixing processes, and internal waves.

A graduate-level introduction to physical oceanography. Topics discussed include: properties of sea water, derivation and application of the equations of motion for a rotating planet, and the dynamics of wind- and buoyancy-driven general circulation.

Graduate seminar in physical, optical, and biological oceanography.

Fundamentals in atmospheric processes that are important for understanding the role of the atmosphere in earth’s climate and biogeochemistry. Graduate-level introduction to radiation, dynamics, clouds, chemistry, and how they interact.

Study of current trends in geographically oriented information processing systems.

Introduction to time series analysis in geography. Topics will include spatial and temporal sampling, fast fourier transform techniques, linear systems, and digital filtering.

Seminar covering topics in spatial environmental modeling. Integrates techniques such as remote sensing and GIS into modeling of spatial processes. Topics include biogeochemical cycles, hydrology, species distribution and habitat disturbance.

Practice of geostatistics on large environmental data sets using MATLAB. Methods for modeling spatial patterns, integrating spatial data across multiple spatial scales, and simulating complex spatial distributions.

Research frontiers in geostatistics, and innovative application of spatial statistics to the analysis of geographical data.

A series of lectures and seminars on diverse research topics on climate change.

Geographic curriculum content that lies outside regularly scheduled courses. New classes under development or taught temporarily. Course number-letter combination reflects instructor. Content varies.

Applications of operations research techniques and decision analysis in structuring approaches to urban and environmental problems. Examples are drawn from problems in facility location, regional models, transportation and other networks, utility corridors, and similar problems.

Survey of advanced optimization techniques with applications to geographical problems. Methods include advanced topics in linear programming, dynamic programming, integer programming, networks, and queuing.

Study of current research and application of systems models in the analysis, design, operation, and scheduling of transport and location problems.

Intensive reading and discussions of current topics in soil-geomorphology, soil-geochemistry, and quantitative modeling of soil processes.

Development of the links between the biological and inorganic components of the soil. Water availability and nutrients control plant and soil microbial communities. These in turn affect the soil by enhancing weathering and modifying the local chemical environment.

Study of the technical issues underlying Geographic Information Systems, including coordinate systems and analytic geometry, database models and structures, algorithms and analytical procedures.

Compulsory course for new teaching assistants to examine geographic teaching methods. Emphasis on use of special equipment and facilities in the department, teaching aids, examination preparation and grading, student advising, and special problems.

A series of lectures and seminars on diverse research topics in marine science.

Individual tutorial. Instructor is usually student’s major professor.

Instructor should be student’s major professor or chair of the doctoral committee.

Research toward and writing of thesis.

Research toward and writing of dissertation. Instructor should be chair of student’s doctoral committee.