Chairperson: Professor Ingalls; Professors: Bender, Furuseth, Hartgen, Hauser, Xiang; Associate Professors: Allan, Bobyarchick, Campbell, Diemer, Ives, Martin, Meentemeyer, Moore; Assistant Professors: Chadwick, Chilton, Eppes, Etherton, Graves, Hippensteel, Kalafsky, Lee, Smith, Thomasson; Lecturers: Garcia, Garo, Smith, Strickland; Emeritus: Lord, Nunnally, Schul, Sommer, Stuart; Executive in Residence: Rash; Associate Provost: Walcott; Adjunct: Tyrrell       

        The Department of Geography and Earth Sciences is a cross-disciplinary unit offering different but related programs of study.  Geography emphasizes the locational aspects of human activities as they are distributed over the Earth.  Earth Sciences includes the study of the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and surficial materials of the Earth.  Geology examines the composition, history, and structure of the whole earth.  Meteorology provides a more rigorous study of the fundamental atmospheric processes that lead to weather and climate.  A unique advantage of the Department’s interdisciplinary curriculum is that all four programs of study are inter-related in many ways.  For example, a geography student interested in land use planning might gain important experience and knowledge from coursework in soil science or hydrology.  An Earth Sciences major might better understand soil formation and chemical weathering with classes in petrology and optical mineralogy.  Emphasis in one area should not preclude class-work or interest in another, and in fact, this type of interdisciplinary work will often be critical to the student’s program of study. 

        Geography. The Geography curriculum is oriented toward the methodologies of social science in which the importance of location is stressed. Traditional regional studies and conceptual courses that deal with land use patterns, transportation systems, industrial location, the distribution of retail activities, city planning, and urban systems are augmented by technique-oriented courses such as map design and compilation, computer mapping, analysis of satellite images, statistical methods, and geographic information systems (GIS). These courses prepare students in both the concepts and methods of contemporary spatial analysis.  

        Geography majors find careers open to them in urban and regional planning, cartography, GIS, marketing research, transportation planning, real estate development and teaching. While a wide range of career options are available to undergraduate geography majors, graduate studies provide additional options. (See the Graduate Catalog regarding the M.A. in Geography program). 

        Earth Sciences.  The Earth Sciences program focuses on the suite of dynamic processes acting at or near the surface of the Earth.  Study spotlights the composition and dynamics of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and/or surficial materials including environmental applications of these fields of study.  Course work covers areas such as environmental geology, hydrology, remote sensing, surfaces processes, soil science, and Environmental Information Systems.  This program also prepares students for graduate studies in hydrology and remote sensing.   

        Students majoring in Earth Sciences pursue careers in environmental consulting, environmental planning, meteorology, land development planning, site analysis, terrain analysis, and teaching.  There are employment opportunities in both government and private industry with the greatest range of positions available to students who earn graduate degrees.  (See the Graduate Catalog regarding the M.S. in Earth Sciences program).  

        Geology.  The Geology program examines the entire Earth as a dynamic natural system by focusing on its composition, history and structure.  Students pursuing a B.S. degree take coursework in areas of Earth Sciences and Geology such as mineralogy, geochemistry, structural geology, hydrogeology, sedimentology, stratigraphy and petrology, and optical mineralogy.   

        Students majoring in Geology pursue careers in geotechnical engineering, environmental consulting, mining, oil and gas exploration, site analysis, and teaching. There are employment opportunities in both government and private industry with the greatest range of positions available to students who earn graduate degrees.  (See the Graduate Catalog regarding the M.S. in Earth Sciences program). 

        Meteorology.  The Meteorology program focuses on the atmosphere.  Students pursing the B.S. degree will take courses describing and explaining processes in the atmosphere, with traditional coursework in synoptic, dynamic, physical and boundary layer meteorology.  Ancillary coursework in oceanography, applied climatology, and air quality modeling are also available.  Students majoring in meteorology pursue careers in weather forecasting – private and public, air quality, climatology or atmospheric research.  Students majoring in meteorology pursue employment in government with the National Weather Service or through service in the United States Air Force and careers in industry either through broadcasting or with consulting companies and public utilities.

        Facilities. The Department of Geography and Earth Sciences is housed in modern, well-equipped facilities. Extensive rock, mineral and fossil holdings are available for instructional purposes.  The optical mineralogy laboratory features high-quality petrographic microscopes linked with image analysis and cathodoluminescence systems.  Analytical facilities also include a geochemical sample preparation laboratory, a plasma emission spectrometer, IC, TOC/TN, Microwave Digestion, XRD, XRF, ICP-MS analytical units, and rapid sediment analyzers.  The petrology lab employs a precision thin section machine and an automated photomicrography unit that is attached to a research-grade polarizing microscope.  A proton magnetometer and ground penetrating radar systems are available for ground-based field surveys.  Frequent field trips are facilitated by the Department's vans, extensive field instruments and camping gear.  

        The atmospheric-hydrology laboratories house the Department's Meteorology Data Acquisition System (McIDAS), a geographic information systems package that provides "real time" meteorological data via links to weather satellites.  Stream gauges, ground water monitoring equipment, and soil analysis instruments are on hand for use in fluvial processes, hydrogeology, and soils labs.  

        Students have access to a Departmental computer lab equipped with networked Apple Macintosh and PC workstations, a file server, and printer.  These facilities are networked to other labs on campus and to the University's Novell servers.  A separate geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing lab houses PC and Unix workstations, digitizers, and a large format color inkjet plotter. ArcGIS, ArcView and Erdas software packages run on the workstations and are used to support classes in GIS, remote sensing and image processing, and spatial decision support systems.  The Department also maintains a large collection of geographically-referenced data for use by students and staff in the lab. These data sets include satellite imagery, U.S. Census Bureau files, and U.S. Geological Survey map data, as well as locally-developed data sets.  

        The UNC Charlotte Cartography Laboratory has earned a national reputation for its high quality production cartography.  This cutting edge facility contains high end Macintosh workstations, one 1200 dpi scanner, a 35 mm slide scanner and a slide processing unit, high resolution laser printers and a large format color printer.  Software include Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, PageMill, Authorware, Director, Poweroint and Astound.   

        Cooperative Education in Geography and Earth Sciences.  Students in the Geography and Earth Sciences programs may obtain practical work experience while pursuing their degrees by participating in the Cooperative Education program.  The work experience is approved by the Department and is closely related to the student's field of study.  Students interested in learning more about participating in this program should contact the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences or the University Career Center.  

GEOGRAPHY MAJOR: BACHELOR OF ARTS  

        A major leading to a B.A. degree consists of 29 hours in geography and earth sciences and will include GEOG 1101, 1105, 2100, 2101, 2110 and ESCI 1101 with the lab.  Except for required courses, all work offered for the major must be numbered 2100 or above.  Students are encouraged to take additional coursework in related disciplines or to select a second major.  Consult the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences for a suggested schedule to complete the B.A. degree with a major in Geography. 

GEOGRAPHY MAJOR: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE  

        A major leading to a B.S. degree consists of 40 hours of geography and earth sciences and will include 17 hours of major requirements listed below.  In addition, students must complete ENGL 2116 (Introduction to Technical Communication) as well as General Education English requirements, and one mathematics course above MATH  1103. Options are available within the major in Economic Geography, Community and Regional Planning, and GIS.  Other concentrations can be developed.  Students should contact their advisors about these and other possible concentrations.  Except for required courses, all work offered for the major must be in courses numbered 2100 or above.  Consult the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences for a suggested schedule to complete the B.S. degree with a major in Geography.  

Major Requirements (17 hours)

GEOG     1101        World Regional Geography………………3
ESCI       1101        Earth Science-Geography……………….3
ESCI       1101L      Earth Science-Geography Lab…………....1
GEOG     1105        Location of Human Activity…………….3
GEOG     2100        Maps and Graphs……………………….3
GEOG     2101        Maps and Graphs Laboratory....................1
GEOG     2110        Introduction to Geographic Research……3 

Community and Regional Planning Option (select 5 courses)

GEOG     3200        Land Use Planning……………………….3
GEOG     3205        Internal Structure of the City……............3
GEOG     3210        Regional Planning………………………..3
GEOG     3215        Environmental Planning…………….……3
GEOG     4120        Introduction to GIS………………….…...4
GEOG     4210        Urban Planning Methods……………….3 

Economic Geography Option (select 5 courses)

GEOG     3000        Topics in Regional Geography…………..3
GEOG     3105        Geography of Global Economy………….3
GEOG     3150        Manufacturing Geography………….…...3
GEOG     3205        Internal Structure of the City…………….3
GEOG     3605        Geography of Europe (W)……………….3
GEOG     4000        Selected Topics in Geography…………..3
GEOG     4108        Sport, Place & Development……………3
GEOG     4155        Retail Location……………………..........3
GEOG     4160        Geography of Transportation Systems......3
GEOG     4240        Geography of Knowledge & Information..3
GEOG     4255        Applied Population Analysis…….............3 

Option-related electives to complete B.S. degree may be selected from:

GEOG     3100        The City and Its Region…………………..3
GEOG     3115        Urban Transportation Problems…………3
GEOG     3205        Internal Structure of the City……….……3
GEOG     3265        Behavioral Geography……………….......3
GEOG     4103        Computer Mapping………………….…..3
GEOG     4130        Advanced GIS…………………………...4
GEOG     4155        Retail Geography…………………...........3
GEOG     4209        Small Town Planning…………………...3
GEOG     4255        Applied Population Analysis………….....3
GEOG     4400        Internship in Geography……………….3-6
 
Geographic Information Systems Option (select 5 courses)

GEOG     4101        Cartographic Techniques………………..3
GEOG     4102        Cartographic Design & Map Construction…3
GEOG     4103^*       Computer Mapping……………………….3
GEOG     4120^*       Geographic Information Systems………..4
GEOG     4130^*       Advanced GIS………………………..….4
ESCI       4170        Fundamentals of Remote Sensing………..4
ESCI       4180        Digital Image Processing in Remote Sensing...4

^*Required 

        Note:  It is recommended that students supplement these courses with computer programming and database courses such as ITCS 1214 and ITCS 3160.  

GEOGRAPHY MINOR  

        A minor in Geography consists of 19 hours, including GEOG 1101 and 1105 and ESCI 1101/1101L, and nine additional hours in geography.  The minor can be tailored to support a number of majors, such as business, computer science, political science, and architecture.  

URBAN STUDIES MINOR 

A minor in Urban Studies requires completion of 18 hours taken from the following courses: ANTH 2125 (Urban Anthropology) or SOCY 4125 (Urban Sociology); ARCH 1100 (History of American Architecture); GEOG 2165 (Patterns of World Urbanization); GEOG 2200 (Introduction to Urban Studies); GEOG 3100 (City and Region); GEOG 3205 (Internal Structure of the City); HIST 3214 (Urban South); HIST 3280 (Blacks in Urban America); HIST 3281 (American Cities); POLS 3121 (Urban Politics) or GEOG 3110 (Urban Political Geography).  A student may also count up to 9 hours of other courses that have a significant urban focus with the prior permission of the Coordinator of the Urban Studies minor in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences.

EARTH SCIENCES MAJOR: BACHELOR OF ARTS  

A major in Earth Sciences leading to a B.A. degree consists of a minimum of 40 hours of required Earth Science (ESCI) and Geology (GEOL) courses and 10 hours of elective courses. 

Elective courses 

Ten hours of elective coursework may be selected from additional ESCI and GEOL courses, GEOG 2120, 3200, 3215 or 4120, CHEM 1251, 1252, and associated labs, PHYS 1101, 1102 or PHYS 2101 and 2102 and associated labs, MATH 1241, 1242, and STAT 2122. 

EARTH SCIENCES MAJOR: BACHELOR OF ARTS, SECONDARY TEACHING OPTION        

      Students preparing to teach high school earth science may become licensed by earning the B.A. degree including the Secondary Teaching Option.  This program consists of a minimum of 37 hours in geography and earth science, including ESCI 1101, 1101L, 2101, 3105; GEOL 1200, 1200L, 1210, 1210L, 3115, 3190, 3190L; and GEOG 2100; 11 elective hours selected from earth science courses of which at least 4 hours are in courses numbered 3000 or above.  Also required for this option are CHEM 1251, 1251L; PHYS 1101, 1101L; MATH 1241; SPED 2100, EDUC 2100, 4290; SECD 3140, 3141, 4441; READ 3255; MDSK 3150, 3151, 4251; PHYS 1130, 1130L; and one additional physical of life science elective.  Licensure applications are the responsibility of the student and the Office of Student Academic Services in the College of Education.

EARTH SCIENCES MAJOR: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE  

        A major in Earth Sciences leading to a B.S. degree consists of a minimum of 30 hours of required Earth Science (ESCI) and Geology (GEOL) courses, 15 hours of elective courses and 21 hours of required extra departmental courses.  Students considering a career as a licensed professional soil scientist should complete the Bachelor of Science degree with 15 hours of soil science course work as well as meet the work experience and examination requirements of the NC licensure board. 

Elective courses 

Students can choose a minimum of 15 hours of earth sciences, geology and pre-approved geography courses numbered 3000 or above. 

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