UC Santa Barbara Geography / Undergraduates / BS in Physical Geography
The Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography (BS) provides majors with rigorous training in earth and environmental science. The BS offers students the option of choosing a more structured, directed program, which emphasizes the quantitative and scientific approaches to studying the Earth's physical environment. At the same time, the major offers the flexibility of deciding on what areas of the systematics the student wants to focus on: soils and hydrology, oceanography and meteorology, biogeography and soils or any other combination. BS students are offered a specific list of related courses from Biology and Geology to supplement their selection of systematics courses.
A total of 53 lower-division units are required for the preparation for the major and a total of 46 upper-division units are required for the BS degree in Geography. No substitutions are allowed without the approval of the Undergraduate Advisor, then a petition must be submitted to the Department Chair and Dean.
P/NP grading option is not allowed for any major course (Prep or UD).
G.P.A. requirements are at least 2.0 overall UC average in all upper-division major courses and all courses (Prep and UD) for the major.
No Geography 193, 198, 199, 199RA units will be allowed towards the BS degree.
At least 20 upper-division units in major must be taken while in residence at UCSB.
Requirements
Preparation for the major - 53 lower division units required
- Strongly Recommended: Computer Science 12, Geography 12 and 14, and any additional courses from the below selection
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Required courses
- Geog 3A - Oceans and Atmosphere
- Geog 3B - Land, Water and Life
- Geog 5 - People, Place and Environment
- Math 3A,B,C - Calculus
- One of the following Physics sequences
- Phys 6A,B,C - Introductory Physics
- Phys 1,2,3/3L,4/4L - Basic Physics
- One of the following Statistics courses
- PSTAT 5A - Statistics
- EEMB 30 - Concepts in Statistics
- One of the following Chemistry courses and lab
- Chem 1A/AL - Introduction to Chemistry
- Chem 2A/AL - Introduction to Chemistry - honors
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A minimum of 12 units from the following courses
- Chemistry
- Chem 1B/BL,1C/CL - Introduction to Chemistry
- Chem 2B/BL,2C/CL - Introduction to Chemistry - honors
- Chem 95 - Global Energy Sources
- Biology
- MCDB 1A/AL,B/BL; EEMB 2/2L,3/3L - Introduction to Biology
- EEMB 21 - General Botany
- EEMB 24 - Aquatic Ecology
- Geology
- 2 - Principles of Physical Geology
- 3 - Principles of Historical Geology
- 14 - Mineralogy
- 15 - Optical Mineralogy
- Math
- Math 5A - Introduction to Linear Algebra and Differential Equations
- Math 5B - Vector Calculus
- Math 5C - Differential Equations and Fourier Series
- Math 8 - A Transition to Higher Mathematics
- Physics
- Astro 1 - Basic Astronomy
- Astro 2 - History of the Universe
Upper division major - 46 upper division units required
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Area A: 10 Units of Fundamentals of Physical Geography
- Geog 102 - Introduction to Environmental Optics in Physical Geography, 5.0
- Geog 172 - Intermediate Geographical Data Analysis, 5.0
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Area B: 12 Units from Geographical Techniques Courses
- Geog 115A - Geographic Photo Interpretation
- Geog 115B - Geographic Remote Sensing Techniques
- Geog 115C - Intermediate Geographic Remote Sensing Techniques
- Geog 117 - Research Methods in Geography
- Geog 118 - Cartographic Design
- Geog 128 - Analytical and Computer Cartography
- Geog 172 - Intermediate Geographical Data Analysis
- Geog 176A - Introduction to Geographical Information Systems
- Geog 176B/BL - Technical Issues in Geographic Information Systems
- Geog 176C - GIS Design and Applications
- Geog 184A - Introduction to Cartographic Programming
- Geog 184B - Environmental Issues and Location Decision Making
- Geog 184C - Geographic Visualization
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Area C: 12 Units from Introductory Systematics Courses
- Geog 104 - Physical Geography of the World’s Oceans
- Geog 110 - Introduction to Meteorology
- Geog 112 - Environmental Hydrology
- Geog 114A - Soil Science
- Geog 134 - Earth System Science
- Geog 167 - Biogeography: The Study of Plant and Animal Distributions
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Area D: 12 Units from Specialized Physical Geography Courses
- Geog 114B - Soil Genesis and Classification
- Geog 116 - Groundwater Hydrology
- Geog 123 - Contaminant Hydrology
- Geog 133 - Tropical Meteorology
- Geog 135 - Mock Environmental Summit
- Geog 135S - Mock Environmental Summit (Summer)
- Geog 144 - Forms, Process, and Human Use of Rivers
- Geog 149 - The California Channel Islands
- Geog 158 - Geography of the California Current
- Geog 162A - Environmental Water Quality
- Geog 163 - Ocean Circulation
- Geog 165 - Waves and Tides in the Ocean
- Geog 166 - Physical Climatology
- Geog 170 - Introductory to Vegetation Analysis
- Geog 175 - Environmental Data Analysis
- Geog 185D - Urban and Environmental Systems Analysis
Note: Geography 193, 194, 195, 198, 199 and 199RA may be applied to area B, C, or D by petition.
