Geography
For students interested in everything about how people interact with places all over the world.
If you are interested in understanding how people interact with the world around them, geography is the subject for you. You’ll study everything from maps to cultures to globalization to climate change.
Geographers are essential to the work that needs to be done in addressing critical issues across the globe. Knowledge of geography will give you marketable skills and prepare you for careers in a range of fields.
As a geography undergraduate in the Department of Earth, Climate, and Geographic Sciences, you can choose from a range of concentrations depending on your interests. All students gain skills in writing, field research, statistics, mapping, and Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST). You might also choose to study GIST through our certificate program.
Graduate students work with exceptional faculty members in areas like human geography, urban geography, sustainability, remote sensing, and many more.
Explore our programs
Undergraduate
Alumni spotlight
In the spotlight
“I chose geography as my secondary major after taking a general education class about climate change my freshman year. It inspired me to look at the world in a more geographical point of view, and combined with my primary major of economics, this proved to be really beneficial.”
Featured faculty
Forrest J. Bowlick
MS Geography-GIST Concentration Graduate Program Director
Lecturer, ECo and Geosciences
Forrest J. Bowlick is the associate department head for finance and operations, a graduate program director, and lecturer.
Qian Yu
Associate Professor
Qian Yu is a graduate program director and an associate professor in the Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences.
In the news
UMass Hydrogeologists Develop Innovative way to Predict Saltwater Intrusion into Groundwater Using Plymouth, Mass. as Test Case
As coastal lands become more vulnerable to climate change and subsequent saltwater intrusion, UMass is working to generate predictive models.
Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences Doctoral Student’s Research to Prepare for the Next "Big One"
Grasshopper Anderson-Merritt's research on earthquakes aims to inform building codes, disaster relief plans, and other aspects of public policy.