UC Santa Barbara Geography / Undergraduates / Program Description

"When I declared Geography as a major several years ago, not only did I feel I had found my academic calling, but that I had discovered part of myself as well. I've loved working in a field where the main counterparts are the understanding of Earth's human and environmental processes, the use of cutting-edge technology, and the endless possibilities for creative implementation of these tools in worldwide issues." (Laura Harrison, BA, Geography, 2007).

Geography is the study of the Earth as the home of humanity. As such, it involves analyses of the spatial and temporal phenomena that make up the human and natural environment of Earth, from multiple disciplinary perspectives. The Department of Geography at UCSB is on the cutting edge of geographic research, technologies, and interdisciplinary studies.

The year 2004 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the Department of Geography at UCSB. The Department has grown over the past three decades and is now one of the crown jewels of UCSB. With 27 faculty, 10 affiliated faculty, 22 administrative and 25 research staff, almost 100 graduate and 200 undergraduate students, the Department is not only among the largest geography departments in the country, it is also the highest ranked program within its discipline on campus, according to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

The Department offers two undergraduate and two graduate degrees: Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Geography, Bachelor of Science (BS) in Physical Geography, Master of Arts (MA) in Geography and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Geography. The majors are designed to provide a fundamental background for students seeking an interdisciplinary understanding of our planet and the varied human and natural systems that interrelate within it.

Undergraduate courses are arranged into four main areas: physical systematics, human systematics, techniques, and regional courses. 1) Physical systematics courses teach students how the Earth's systems work in conjunction with each other. A variety of oceanography, meteorology, hydrology, soil science, and biogeography courses are offered each year. 2) Human systematics courses cover the myriad ways that humans interact with each other and with their environment. These issues are discussed in courses on population, migration, and economic geography; transportation systems; urban and regional planning and modeling; human-nature relationships; and behavioral and cognitive geography. 3) Geographic techniques involve the collection, processing, and interpretation of information about geo-referenced phenomena, and are studied in courses on remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), cartography, and spatial statistics. The department is well known for its technical training in these rapidly expanding fields, and a number of students from other departments take advantage of our technical courses. 4) Regional courses discuss in an integrated way the physical, human, and historical characteristics of various regions of local and global interest.

Majoring in Geography

• BA in Geography. The Bachelor of Arts in Geography (BA) is an interdisciplinary program that offers students maximum flexibility with a minimum number of units.
• BA with GIS Emphasis. The BA in Geography with an Emphasis in Geographic Information Science is intended to build upon the Geography BA with a deeper study of the science behind spatial information technologies.
• BS in Physical Geography. The Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography (BS) provides majors with rigorous training in earth and environmental science.

To declare Geography as a major, students need to have completed two Geography classes and have at least a 2.0 overall grade point average. All major courses must be completed for a letter grade. The department undergraduate program assistant is available for counseling on matters such major requirements, quarterly scheduling, honors programs, petitions, internships, career planning, and graduate school information.

Research Opportunities

Students are encouraged to take part in research within the department. Faculty and graduate students welcome assistance on various research projects. Many faculty members integrate their research projects into teaching and independent studies, and the large number of Geography majors participating in internships shows that Geographers engage well with the workplace. Our students find employment in a huge variety of fields, in industry, government, and academia. Consult the undergraduate advisor for more information regarding Independent Studies (Geog 199), Independent Research Assistance (Geog 199RA), and Internships (Geog 193).

Study Abroad

Geography is the study of the Earth, and, because of this, geographers need to get out into the world and explore. Our students are encouraged to take part in study abroad opportunities offered by the Education Abroad Program, and field research programs like Wood's Hole Sea Semester and University of Montana's Wild Rockies Field Institute.

Distinction in the Major

Students who maintain a 3.5 overall grade-point average and a 3.6 grade-point average in the major are welcomed to pursue Distinction in the Major. In addition to maintaining the GPA, by the time of graduation, students must have completed 8 units of Independent Studies (Geography 199), graduate-level courses or a combination of the two. Students must obtain permission from a faculty member and the department chair to take part in these courses. Please contact the undergraduate advisor for more information.

Careers in Geography

The undergraduate major is designed to prepare you for careers in several different areas. There are career possibilities in state and local government offices, urban and regional planning agencies of the federal government, and in international organizations. Geographers are involved in business and as consultants to businesses. There is the possibility of college and university teaching and research, which requires three to six additional years of graduate-level study, or primary and secondary level teaching, with one additional year of education normally required. There are also career opportunities in specialized areas such as remote sensing and aerial photography, resource evaluation, urban and regional planning, industrial location, marketing resources, transportation and cartography.

Although you won't find notices in the classified ads for "Geographer," job prospects are actually quite good and extremely varied. Mary Lynne Bird gave an interesting talk about "Hidden Geographers" — people with geographic training who make use of their knowledge in careers one might not expect to find them. We've included a copy of her talk on the website. For your convenience, there's a link to an on-line brochure about careers in cartography and geographic information systems: please go to the brochure at the Cartography and Geographic Information Society site. By the way, UCSB Geography faculty, staff, and an undergraduate student had a hand in producing this document.