The structure of geography and environmental management academic plans at the University of Waterloo has three main characteristics. The Department of Geography and Environmental Management attempts to strike a balance between the theoretical and methodological aspects of the discipline, on the one hand, and the practical application of geographical concepts to contemporary economic, social, and political problems, on the other hand. The geography and environmental management program is designed not only to integrate the various sub-fields of geography, but also to enable students to incorporate the study of other related disciplines into their programs. The program is flexible enough to allow students to design courses of study which enable them to specialize in any one of a number of the sub-fields of geography. A wide variety of courses is available in the following areas:
- Earth Systems Science (e.g., climage change, geomorphology, hydrology, wetlands)
- Geomatics (e.g., geographic information systems, remote sensing)
- Development and Environment (e.g., urban form, resource management, natural hazards, field ecology, retail location, location of economic activity)
Geography and environmental management is available at the University of Waterloo in both the Faculty of Arts (leading to a B.A.) and the Faculty of Environment (leading to a B.E.S.).
The Department of Geography and Environmental Management offers both Master's (MAand MES) and Doctoral (PhD) graduate programs as part of the joint Waterloo-Wilfrid Laurier Graduate Program in Geography. At the graduate level, course work and research are concentrated on a specific subfield of geography and environmental management. Areas of research specialization include Physical Geography; Spatial Data Handling; Urban and Economic Geography; Resources Management; and Tourism and Regional Geography.
Admission to the Geography and Environmental Management academic plans in the Faculty of Arts is gained in second year by approval of the Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies, Geography and Environmental Management. Those interested should take the appropriate Geography courses in first year.