Human Environment Interaction

It provides the foundation for much of what we study in Geography at The University of Iowa. We conduct fundamental research into the biophysical processes that drive, for example, the movement of organisms and abiotic material (e.g., soil and pollutants) across geographic space and examine the processes that produce the temporal and spatial patterns that we experience in our daily lives. Advanced geospatial technologies, such as GIS, remote sensing, and computer simulation, play an integral part in the study of these interactions. Examples of these studies include modeling the spatial pattern of ecosystem processes, land use and land cover change, statistical and remote sensing techniques for the detection of change, and GIScience techniques for the representation and simulation of dynamic geographic phenomena.

Environmental Studies

Students who study human-environmental interaction in the Department of Geography at The University of Iowa have the opportunity to learn from leading experts in landscape ecology, environmental sampling, land use/land cover change, and computer simulation.

As a student of Environmental Studies you can, for example, build expertise in:

• Environmental change
• Environmental policy and decision support
• GIS for environmental studies
• Remote Sensing
• Landscape ecology
• Field methods and statistical analyses
• Environmental justice

Environmental Research

We are currently examining human-environmental interaction in areas such as ecosystem dynamics, environmental policy, environmental sampling, land use/land cover change, and computer simulation. Some examples of current environmental geography research at Iowa include:

• Biogeography and complex systems
• Land-use and land-cover modeling and simulation
• Remote sensing and GIS
• Spatiotemporal data modeling
• Agent-based geosimulation modeling
• Spatio-temporal patterns of health and the environmental factors

Environmental Studies Track

In addition to satisfying the common requirements for all geography majors, students in environmental studies track must complete the following.

044:019 Contemporary Environmental Issues 3 s.h.
Upper-level geography courses 12 s.h.

Students choose the upper-level courses (12 s.h.) in consultation with their advisors. Students in the environmental studies track who wish to gain additional experience in theory and application of geographic information systems (GIS) should take 044:110 GIS for Environmental Studies: Introduction or 044:128 GIS for Environmental Studies: Applications, or at least an additional 6 s.h. in GIS-based geography courses.

Twelve s.h. of the following upper-level courses are required.
Up to three of these:

044:101 Climatology 3 s.h.
044:103 Biogeography 3 s.h.
044:104 Environment and Development 3 s.h.
044:105 Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing 3 s.h.
044:110 GIS for Environmental Studies: Introduction 3 s.h.
044:111 Water Resources 3 s.h.
044:134 Health and Environment 2-3 s.h.
044:177 Environmental Justice 3 s.h.

 

At least one of these:

 

044:123 Landscape Ecology 3 s.h.
044:125 Environmental Impact Analysis 4 s.h.
044:126 Wetlands: Function, Geography, and Management 3 s.h.
044:127 Environmental Quality: Science, Technology, and Policy 3 s.h.
044:128 GIS for Environmental Studies: Applications 3 s.h.
044:136 Planning Livable Cities 3 s.h.
044:142 Simulation in Environmental Geography 4 s.h.
044:145 Applications in Environmental Remote Sensing 4 s.h.
044:174 Health, Work & Environment 3 s.h.
044:175 Hazards and Vulnerability 3 s.h.
044:178 Ecosystem Services 3 s.h.
044:180 Field Methods in Physical Geography 2-4 s.h.
044:186 Soil Genesis 3 s.h.
044:188 Geostatistics 3 s.h.