Geography

The undergraduate geography program has three main objectives: to promote the understanding of the locational dimensions of human behavior in their environmental context; to apply geographic concepts and methods toward understanding economic, environmental, and social problems; and to promote international understanding through area studies. Areas of emphasis include physical geography, human geography, and geotechnologies.
Degree Outcomes
- Graduates have found careers in business and industry, urban and regional planning agencies, departments of federal and state governments, and teaching.
- Professional roles include city or regional planner, cartographer, demographer, resource analyst, land or economic developer, location analyst, and teacher/professor.
- An undergraduate geography degree is an excellent foundation for advanced graduate work or professional training in planning, business, or law.
The Student Experience
- Courses that challenge students to think about the spatial patterns of environmental, social, economic, and political processes close to home and around the world.
- An emphasis on hands-on learning with popular field schools for academic credit, including a summer field school in the western U.S. and international field schools in locations like Southeast Asia.
- Faculty mentorship on research projects with topics such as urban and transportation systems, tree-ring science, Europe’s migration crisis, and water resource management.
- Internships in local planning and mapping agencies and nonprofits.
- Facilities including fully equipped laboratories in computer cartography, geographic information systems, and remote sensing with a variety of other specialized locational analysis programs for both instruction and research.
- Labs that support teaching and research studies in dendrochronology (tree-ring studies), soils and regolith analysis, and geographic information systems.
- A student-run Geography Club that organizes speakers, hikes, and service projects and department activities like “GeoBowl,” pitting UNC schools against each other.
Accolades & Accomplishments
Our faculty and students have received numerous awards for teaching, research, and community engagement from local, regional, and national organizations.
Accreditations & Affiliations
Departmental chapter of the national geography honor society Gamma Theta Upsilon.

Major & Concentration(s)
Geography (BA) (BS) (LIC)
- Earth Science
- Geographic Information Science
- Urban Planning
Contact
Dr. Jay Lennartson
Senior Lecturer
gjlennar@uncg.edu
Department of Geography, Environment, and Sustainability
ges.uncg.edu
336.334.5388
237 Graham Building
PO Box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170