| Career Opportunities
The breadth of geography as a discipline together with the
flexibility of the undergraduate program allows students to
tailor their coursework to suit the needs of a wide range of
employers in business, government and education.
Business: Businesses such as banks,
fast-food chains, supermarkets and package delivery firms rely
on geographers with training in location analysis to help select
appropriate sites for their operations and manage routing systems. Locational
analysts have a broad base of expertise in economics, marketing,
transportation, demography and spatial statistics. Geographers
with skills in an area of climatology, landforms, and computer
mapping are in demand by industrial and engineering firms,
as well as by the media (TV and radio stations, and newspaper
and magazine publishers). A wide range of consulting
firms also routinely employ geographers.
Government: Geographers are employed
in federal, state, and local government in a range of capacities. Those
with a training in physical geography are involved in natural
resource assessment, environmental impact analysis, and forest
and wildlife conversation, to name a few activities. The
department participates in an interdisciplinary certificate
program in Atmospheric Science that prepares students for careers
in meteorology or climatology. Opportunities for human
geographers include community, economic, and transportation
development, policy research in areas such as population, housing,
and healthcare, and statistical analysis and projections. Skills
in geographic techniques are an important advantage in both
physical and human career positions. One of the most
active job markets in geography today involves opportunities
in the field of Geographic Information Sciences, which uses
computer technology to inventory, analyze, and display geographical
data of interest in the social and physical sciences. To
prepare undergraduates for this job market, the Department
of Geography offers an interdisciplinary certificate in Geographic
Information Science.
Education: The recent initiative to
improve the geographic literacy of American students has created
a new demand for geographic educators at all levels. A
rigorous training in geography ha become increasingly important
as, over time, geography has become a separately defined subject
at middle/junior high, and high schools. Further, geographic
concepts and methods are now being considered an essential
basis for interdisciplinary training in subjects such as cultural
studies, global studies, or environmental studies.
To research careers of interest, visit these web sites:
Career links
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