Understanding our Changing Planet

Finding practical solutions to complex problems. As a globally respected discipline, Geography is highly relevant in today’s complex world, giving us the perspective and tools to respond to many challenges facing society. At its core, Geography seeks to provide a location context and practical solutions to address issues that span from the local to the global. This interdisciplinary field bridges the social sciences (human geography), information technology (geomatics), and the natural and physical sciences (physical geography) in finding sustainable solutions to global to local problems. At Waterloo, Geography and Environmental Management (GEM) does all of this.

If you are interested in research-infused graduate and undergraduate programs that offer innovative hands-on experiential training, quantitative and qualitative skills development, and an integrative perspective that needed to tackle the toughest environmental and sustainability challenges, you have come to the right place.

News

  1. Mar. 13, 2019GEOG 181 Wins 2018 Award for Excellence in Online Course Design

    The Centre for Extended Learning announced that the online course GEOG 181 – Designing Effective Maps – has won the 2018 Award for Excellence In Online Course Design.The centre noted that the course “is a great example of how straightforward, but solid, course design can result in a positive online learning experience for students.” Students who have taken the course noted its well-organized structure, and the “relevant, interesting assignments that connected directly back to course

  2. Mar. 8, 2019Faculty of Environment student team wins NASA’s global 2018 International Space Apps Challenge for “Most Inspirational” project

    Team Salinity, a group of students and recent graduates from the Faculty of Environment, developed SongSAT as a tool to express the beauty of satellite imagery through sound. Beyond the remarkable audio experience of the music that this creates, the software provides an opportunity for the beauty of satellite imagery to communicate to an audience with visual impairments, providing them with an opportunity to appreciate the wonders of the world from above.

    The team produced an algorithm that converts four distinct geographical areas (grassland, forest, coastal/water, and mountainous areas) into songs with distinct musical patterns. These patterns are converted into playable sheet music, which is then brought into MuseScore notation software that can play the music back.

  3. Mar. 6, 2019Women In Aviation: Geography & Aviation grads featured by Sunwing Airlines

    Sunwing Airlines recently featured 3 UWaterloo Geography & Aviation graduates in a promotional video, celebrating women in aviation. The video was featured on their Youtube.

    Congratulations to our female first officers at Sunwing!

Read all news