UCSB Geography Department

UCSB Geography is internationally recognized as one of the best Departments of Geography in the world, and we have been ranked among the top doctoral programs in the U.S. by a variety of indices for the last 15 years. Geography’s highly trained and diverse faculty bring together aspects of International Development Studies, Urban and Regional Planning, Climatology, Terrestrial Sciences, Marine Sciences, Statistics and Operations Research, and Environmental Psychology. Active research areas include: global climate change; development studies; geographical analysis, GIS, and remote sensing; global climate change; natural hazards and risk; regional geography; spatial optimization, spatial perception and cognition; sustainability, resources, and conservation; transportation and planning; and urban studies. If this broad perspective appeals to you, then you’re a candidate for a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in GEOGRAPHY!

Geography Is the Most Interdisciplinary Department on the UCSB Campus It is also the most integrated discipline on campus, insofar as the material taught in our classes about environmental processes can be found in other disciplines, but are only put together as a whole story in Geography. Above all, Geography is “spatial”—virtually everything has a spatial component, from the distribution of subatomic particles to the choices we make when we buy groceries. Therefore, as a Geographer, you can choose to study an enormous range of subjects. Geography is also an extremely hands-on discipline with a strong emphasis on using computer–based tools and participating in field studies. Knowing where things are, why they got there, and how they work is critical to understanding our world today and how it is changing—this is Geography!

The UCSB Department of Geography Is Represented By Three Cross-Cutting Themes:
- Earth System Science: the physical and biological processes of the environment
- Human Geography: the way humans perceive, interact with, and modify the environment
- Modeling, Measurement, and Computation: techniques for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of geospatial data using tools such as GIS, remote sensing, and spatial statistics

We are internationally recognized as one of the largest and highest ranked Departments of Geography, and our faculty routinely win the most prestigious awards in their fields (see Awards and Rankings). Some of our most popular classes include Geography of Surfing, Geography of the U.S., Oil and Water, and GIS. For a more complete list of our classes and the faculty who teach them, see the UCSB Geography web site.



Community Guidelines

Welcome to the official Facebook page for UCSB Geography. We welcome all questions and commentary, but ask that posts be relevant and respectful. UCSB reserves the right to remove posts that do not meet these standards and are deemed inappropriate. For example, we do not tolerate:

• Hateful or discriminatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation or political beliefs
• Profane, defamatory, offensive, violent, mobbing, or bullying language
• Violations of campus policies, including FERPA regulations
• Links or comments containing sexually explicit content material
• Violations of copyright or intellectual property rights
• Trolling or deliberate disruption of discussion
• Discussion of illegal activity
• Commercial solicitation or solicitation of donations

If you have any questions or would like to report a violation of these Community Guidelines, please contact us at billn@sa.ucsb.edu or (805) 893-3663