The field of aviation has evolved significantly over the past 50 years and increasingly depends upon advances in geography and technology. Aviation and aerospace industries clearly demand specialists with multidisciplinary educational experience, a comprehensive academic background to help them understand complex aircraft systems, and well-developed analytical, critical thinking, and decision-making skills.
Honours Geography and Aviation is designed to provide a strong environmental, geomatics, and technology base for careers in a very diverse array of aviation and aerospace industries. It consists of an Honours Geography and Aviation Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) degree, combined with a Commercial Pilot Program. The Waterloo-Wellington Flight Centre (WWFC) component of the program provides advanced flight training leading to a commercial pilot licence. Coursework includes the essentials of aviation, as well as private and commercial pilot training, an instrument rating, and multi-engine rating.
For more information on the aviation requirements, see the Aviation website.
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‡ENGL 109 or ENGL 129R must be completed with a grade of 65% or higher to meet the Undergraduate Communication Requirement. See the Overview of Academic Plan Requirements section for the Faculty of Environment if you fail to meet this requirement.
†Professional Pilot Program courses: 5.0 units. The Professional Pilot Program courses will not count towards any other University of Waterloo program requirement.
*Theme courses can be counted towards a specialization.
Year One
AVIA 100 Introduction to Aviation
GEOG 101 Human Geographies: People, Space and Change
GEOG 102 Global Environmental Systems: Processes and Change
GEOG 181 Designing Effective Maps
ENVS 178 Environmental Applications of Data Management and Statistics
CS 100 Introduction to Computing through Applications
One of:
ENGL 109‡ Introduction to Academic Writing
ENGL 129R‡ Written Academic English
AVIA 101 Professional Pilot Program Course I† (1B) (0.75 unit)
One elective (0.5 unit)
Year One (Spring)
AVIA 102 Professional Pilot Program Course II† (0.5 unit)
Total of 5.25 units
Year Two
GEOG 271 Earth from Space Using Remote Sensing
GEOG 281 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
ENVS 278 Applied Statistics for Environmental Research
200-level or higher GEOG course (0.5 unit)
Earth Systems Science* theme, one of:
GEOG 205 Principles of Geomorphology
GEOG 209 Hydroclimatology
Economy and Society* theme, one of:
GEOG 202 Geography of the Global Economy
GEOG 203 Environment and Development in a Global Perspective
AVIA 203 Professional Pilot Program Course III† (2A) (0.5 unit)
AVIA 204 Professional Pilot Program Course IV† (2B) (0.75 unit)
Year Two (Spring)
AVIA 205 Professional Pilot Program Course V† (0.5 unit)
Total of 4.75 units
Year Three
AVIA 310 Human Factors in Aviation
AVIA 417 Aviation Safety
GEOG 309 Physical Climatology
One of:
GEOG 293 Approaches to Research in Human Geography
GEOG 294 Approaches to Research in Physical Geography
One of:
GEOG 310 Geodesy and Surveying
GEOG 387 Spatial Databases
One of:
GEOG 371 Advanced Remote Sensing Techniques
GEOG 381 Advanced Geographic Information Systems
AVIA 306 Professional Pilot Program Course VI† (3A) (0.75 unit)
AVIA 307 Professional Pilot Program Course VII† (3B) (0.75 unit)
Year Three (Spring)
AVIA 408 Professional Pilot Program Course VIII† (0.5 unit)
Total of 5.0 units
Year Four
300-level GEOG or 400-level GEOG (1.0 unit)
400-level GEOG (2.5 units)
Electives (1.5 units)
Total of 5.0 units
Notes
- Minimum Required Units
Total: 20.0 units. Required Courses: 13.0 units. Major Core Courses GEOG/ENVS/AVIA: 12.0 units. Elective Courses: 2.0 units. Professional Pilot Program Courses: 5.0 units.
All Geography (GEOG), Environmental Studies (ENVS), and Aviation (AVIA) units (see note 2) are included in the cumulative major average.
- Average Requirements
Students in an Honours academic plan must maintain an overall cumulative average of at least 65% and a major cumulative average of at least 70%.
AVIA 101, 102, 203, 204, 205, 306, 307, and 408 are Professional Pilot Program Courses and are not used in average calculations. Grading is Credit (CR) or No Credit (NCR).
All required courses must be passed.
- Per Term Course Load Allowance
No more than five courses (2.75 units) may be taken in a term without departmental approval and overall average of 78%.
- Independent Study
Up to three independent study GEOG 475 or AVIA 475 courses may be taken.
- Maintaining Aviation Status
In order to continue in the Aviation plan, students must maintain the University of Waterloo academic standards (see note 2) as well as achieve the flight component benchmarks set by WWFC for each term. Students are expected to maintain passing grades (70%) in all WWFC flight components. Students may be allowed to achieve this by using a "competency-based" approach, so long as they achieve the established benchmarks on time.
- Aviation Costs
All costs associated with the Professional Pilot Program Courses are paid directly to the Waterloo-Wellington Flight Centre (WWFC).
- Transfer Credit for Flight Training
Transfer consideration of previous flight training or Professional Pilot Program Courses will be at the discretion of the Waterloo-Wellington Flight Centre (WWFC) and not determined by the University of Waterloo.
Students can be granted advanced credits up to and including a Private Pilot Licence. Program hours will be granted up to licence sign off and the remaining hours will be logged as career, not program hours. Students are not accepted past the Private Pilot Licence or if they have acquired a Night Rating. Students entering the program with a Private Licence will be required to attend WWFC's Flight Management Basic Courses as a review. Students who apply with the flight qualifications that meet the standards set by WWFC are eligible for the BES degree upon successful completion of the plan curriculum and transfer of credit for the flight courses.
- General Information Applicable to all Faculty of Environment Plans
The Environment Academic Regulations section of this Calendar contains information, regulations, and requirements pertaining to undergraduate studies within the Faculty. It is students' responsibility to familiarize themselves with the content of this section.
A number of Faculty of Environment options, minors, and diplomas are available. A list along with requirements are outlined under the Faculty of Environment Academic Enrichment Opportunities section in this Calendar.