Global Environment & Society

Career Opportunities

Graduates of this program work in various places, including government agencies, local and international non-profit organizations, and consulting firms, and education. Many of our alumni have pursued graduate degrees, especially in geography, life sciences, management, and law.

Median Salary: $66,250/YR

Expected Learning Outcomes

Upon finishing the Environment and Society Program Requirements, you will be able to:

• Evaluate the core human and natural spatial processes that create the context for global issues.
• Examine the characteristics of a given place or region vis a vis the physical and human systems that are present.
• Recognize and illustrate the tradeoffs associated with current world issues with knowledge, understanding, passion, and empathy.
• Understand the foundational geographic concepts of human societies, physical environments, human-environmental interaction, critical spatial thinking, and effective communication.

Program Curriculum

1. Physical geography — the study of spatial patterns and processes of natural phenomena, including climate, biology, landforms, water, etc.
2. Human geography — the spatial patterns and processes of humans, including their settlement, movement, history, economic activities, and culture.
3. Regional geography— the integration of physical and human systems to understand a particular place and deal with its unique issues.
4. Geographic management — the practical application of the above principles to make policy and operational decisions in place-centric fields ranging from tourism to public lands conservation to alleviating poverty.
5. Geographic methods — tools for collecting, analyzing, and communicating spatial data for scientific and management tasks, especially GIS, remote sensing, and statistics.