Program Description Imagine experiencing a refreshing Caribbean breeze while you survey land use in a Jamaican town. Picture the vista surrounding you as you investigate a stream in the boreal forest or see yourself examining how wet springs have impacted farm land in the Canadian prairies.
Geography is the study of Earth’s landscapes, peoples, places and environments. It is, quite simply, about the world in which we live. Geography is unique in bridging the social sciences (human geography) with the natural sciences (physical geography). Our natural science team includes members who visit remote field sites and collect samples outdoors to measure the impact of climate change on different eco-regions of the globe, or to document how and where the Earth surface is changing or to examine the environmental history preserved in tree rings and sediments. Our social science team includes members who conduct interviews, make site visits, collate historical records and produce maps to examine the tensions between those who advocate for resource extraction versus the broader social resistance to this activity, or to uncover the ways in which the Arts are used (or misused) to redefine urban neighborhoods, or to study the spatial dimensions of changes in facets of human culture - such as borderlands, tourism and gentrification.
