Graduate Study

The Graduate Group in Geography (GGG) offers programs of study and research leading to M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. Faculty and students share a common interest in spatial interaction between humans and the biophysical environment. The wide faculty interests attract a diverse set of students in such areas as biogeography, physical geography, political ecology, environmental policy and management, urban design, coupled human and natural systems, as well as human geography and related social science fields. A number of faculty members use and teach geographic information systems, remote sensing, and related geographic techniques, and most have a strong field orientation. The strengths of the Davis campus and its faculty enable the program to focus on important issues including people, place and power, community and regional identity and change, people-environment interaction, agricultural sustainability, landscape architecture, environmental change, biogeography, natural resource management, and technological innovations in computing and the use of geographic information systems. Students are mentored by faculty across the many colleges of the university.

Preparation

Most students considered for admission will have an undergraduate major in geography or in a closely related field. Generally, a student without an undergraduate degree in geography will be required to complete the equivalent of a minor in geography, consisting of one course each in human geography, physical geography and geographic methods, plus any additional undergraduate coursework required as background for the student's research emphasis, as determined by the student's guidance committee.

Graduate Advisors

Mark Cooper (Human Ecology & Animal Science), David de la Pena (Human Ecology), Ryan Galt (Human Ecology), Lynette Hart (VM Population Health & Reproduction), Alessandro Ossola (Plant Sciences)