Geography - Physical Geography Major Concentration (B.A. & Sc.) (36 credits)
Offered by: Geography (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 36
Program Description
The Major Concentration Geography - Physical Geography, which is restricted to students in the B.A. & Sc., is a planned sequence of courses designed to permit a degree of specialization in this discipline.
Degree Requirements — B.A. & Sc. students
This program is offered as part of a Bachelor of Arts & Science (B.A. & Sc.) degree.
To graduate, students must satisfy both their program requirements and their degree requirements.
- The program requirements (i.e., the specific courses that make up this program) are listed under the Course Tab (above).
- The degree requirements—including the mandatory Foundation program, appropriate degree structure, and any additional components—are outlined on the Degree Requirements page.
Students are responsible for ensuring that this program fits within the overall structure of their degree and that all degree requirements are met. Consult the Degree Planning Guide on the SOUSA website for additional guidance.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (12 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 201 | Introductory Geo-Information Science. | 3 |
Introductory Geo-Information Science. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to Geographic Information Systems. The systematic management of spatial data. The use and construction of maps. The use of microcomputers and software for mapping and statistical work. Air photo and topographic map analyses. | ||
| GEOG 202 | Statistics and Spatial Analysis. | 3 |
Statistics and Spatial Analysis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Exploratory data analysis, univariate descriptive and inferential statistics, non-parametric statistics, correlation and simple regression. Problems associated with analysing spatial data such as the 'modifiable areal unit problem' and spatial autocorrelation. Statistics measuring spatial pattern in point, line and polygon data. | ||
| GEOG 203 | Environmental Systems. | 3 |
Environmental Systems. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to system-level interactions among climate, hydrology, soils and vegetation at the scale of drainage basins, including the study of the global geographical variability in these land-surface systems. The knowledge acquired is used to study the impact on the environment of various human activities such as deforestation and urbanisation. | ||
| GEOG 272 | Earth's Changing Surface. | 3 |
Earth's Changing Surface. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the study of landforms as products of geomorphic and geologic systems acting at and near the Earth's surface. The process geomorphology approach will be used to demonstrate how landforms of different geomorphic settings represent a dynamic balance between forces acting in the environment and the physical properties of materials present. | ||
Complementary Courses (24 credits)
Courses are selected as follows:
6 credits of analytical techniques are selected from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 308 | Remote Sensing for Earth Observation. | 3 |
Remote Sensing for Earth Observation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A conceptual view of remote sensing and the underlying physical principles. Covers ground-based, aerial, satellite systems, and the electromagnetic spectrum, from visible to microwave. Emphasis on application of remotely sensed data in geography including land cover change and ecological processes. | ||
| GEOG 314 | Geospatial Analysis. | 3 |
Geospatial Analysis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Overview of both the theoretical and applied aspects of geographic information science and systems. Topics will include spatial analysis techniques, geographic models as abstractions of the real world, spatial data manipulation and management, and conceptual issues related to geographic data and technology. Introduction to a number of leading commercial software including ESRI’s ArcGIS Pro. | ||
| GEOG 351 | Quantitative Methods. | 3 |
Quantitative Methods. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Multiple regression and correlation, logit models, discrete choice models, gravity models, facility location algorithms, survey design, population projection. | ||
| GEOG 414 | Advanced Geospatial Analysis. | 3 |
Advanced Geospatial Analysis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced techniques in geospatial analysis. Geospatial methods and using geospatial information systems. Topics: geodatabases, interpolation techniques, spatial classification methods, data mining and machine learning, including working with a number of leading commercial software including ESRI’s ArcGIS Desktop/Pro. | ||
3 credits of field courses selected from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 495 | Field Studies - Physical Geography. | 3 |
Field Studies - Physical Geography. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Field research projects in physical geography. Held locally in Monteregian or Eastern Township regions. The course is organised around field projects designed to formulate and test scientific hypotheses in a physical geography discipline. May Summer session. | ||
| GEOG 496 | Geographical Excursion. | 3 |
Geographical Excursion. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Lecture course on the geography of a region and excursion through the selected country or region including landscape interpretation and field study projects. | ||
| GEOG 499 | Subarctic Field Studies. | 3 |
Subarctic Field Studies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to the geography of the subarctic with emphasis on the application of field methods in physical and/or human geography. | ||
9-15 credits in systematic physical geography selected from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 305 | Soils and Environment. | 3 |
Soils and Environment. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Discussion of the major properties of soils; soil formation, classification and mapping; land capability assessment; the role and response of soils in natural and disturbed environments (e.g. global change, ecosystem disturbance). | ||
| GEOG 321 | Climatic Environments. | 3 |
Climatic Environments. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The earth-atmosphere system, radiation and energy balances. Surface-atmosphere exchange of energy, mass and momentum and related atmospheric processes on a local and regional scale. Introduction to measurement theory and practice in micrometeorology. | ||
| GEOG 322 | Environmental Hydrology. | 3 |
Environmental Hydrology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Quantitative, experimental study of the principles governing the movement of water at or near the Earth's surface and how the research relates to the chemistry and biology of ecosystems. | ||
| GEOG 372 | Running Water Environments. | 3 |
Running Water Environments. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The course focuses on the physical habitat conditions found in streams, rivers, estuaries and deltas. Based on the laws governing flow of water and sediment transport, it emphasizes differences among these environments, in terms of channel form, flow patterns, substrate composition and mode of evolution. Flooding, damming, channelisation, forestry impacts. | ||
| GEOG 470 | Wetlands. | 3 |
Wetlands. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An examination of the structure, function and utility of wetlands. Topics include the fluxes of energy and water, wetland biogeochemistry, plant ecology in freshwater and coastal wetlands and wetlands use, conservation and restoration. Field trip(s) are envisaged to illustrate issues covered in class. | ||
0-6 credits in integrative and advanced topics selected from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 302 | Environmental Management 1. | 3 |
Environmental Management 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An ecological analysis of the physical and biotic components of natural resource systems. Emphasis on scientific, technological and institutional aspects of environmental management. Study of the use of biological resources and of the impact of individual processes. | ||
| GEOG 401 | Socio-Environmental Systems: Theory and Simulation. | 3 |
Socio-Environmental Systems: Theory and Simulation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Conceptual and simulation models of key case studies for developing system thinking, including system stability, threshold dynamics in regime shifts, resilience, and adaptive environmental management. | ||
| GEOG 505 | Global Biogeochemistry. | 3 |
Global Biogeochemistry. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An examination of the storage, transfers and cycling of major elements and substances, with an emphasis on the global scale and the linkages between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. | ||
| GEOG 506 | Advanced Geographic Information Science. | 3 |
Advanced Geographic Information Science. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Critically analyse major themes in geographic information science and draw out the practical ramifications for spatial technologies and research. Topics such as spatial interoperability, data quality, scale, visualization, location based services and ontologies are covered. | ||
| GEOG 536 | Geocryology. | 3 |
Geocryology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of the unique geomorphic aspects of periglacial and permafrost environments. The focus will be on processes in cold climates, the impact of human activity on permafrost landscapes and potential impacts of climatic change. | ||
| GEOG 537 | Advanced Fluvial Geomorphology. | 3 |
Advanced Fluvial Geomorphology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An examination of current advances in fluvial geomorphology: sediment entrainment and transport, alluviation and river channel evolution. | ||
| GEOG 550 | Historical Ecology Techniques. | 3 |
Historical Ecology Techniques. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Principles and methods of Quaternary paleoecology and vegetation reconstruction. Examination of ecosystem response to human disturbance and environmental change. | ||
| GEOG 555 | Ecological Restoration. | 3 |
Ecological Restoration. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A broad overview of ecological restoration. Considers causes of environmental degradation, why and what we restore, how restoration goals are set, and standards in restoration practice, as well as critiques and philosophies of ecological restoration, such as "ecocultural" restoration. | ||