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University of Nebraska–Lincoln

School of Natural Resources

From Earth to Sky and Everything In Between

Geography Program

The Geography program at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, established in 1868, is among the oldest in the country, and the PhD program, developed in 1908, was one of the first west of the Mississippi River. Students are offered several undergraduate, masters and doctoral degree options. Students can choose to specialize in Cartography, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Historical Geography, Human-environment Relations, Regional Studies, and Remote Sensing.

Geographers are concerned with the earth as the home of people and stress the locational analysis of human activities and their relationships with the environment. While geography is one of the most time-honored disciplines reflecting curiosity about people and places, it is also an applied discipline that offers insights about present and future issues, involving environment, culture, society, economy, and politics.

Geographers pursue careers in urban and regional planning, cartography, image processing, geographic information systems, environmental assessment, resource management, locational analysis and many other areas. They work in government and private-sector jobs that require both a broad liberal education with well-developed spatial and ecological perspectives and a detailed knowledge of up-to-date methods of cartographic analysis, statistical analysis, and environmental research methods.

For more information please contact:

Joyce Hurst
Geography Graduate Secretary
304 Hardin Hall
3310 Holdrege Street
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68583-0973
Phone: 402-472-2865
E-mail: jhurst3@unl.edu

To learn more about our programs:

Course Listings:

What students are saying about the geography program:

Anita Clark

Anita Clark, undergraduate student
"Geography is an excellent major that provides each student the opportunity to connect more fully with others locally and to experience the global world more intimately. My involvement in AFROTC and the military applications of geography made it an ideal major for me."

Matt Baumeister

Matt Baumeister, undergraduate student
"I have found a perfect fit in the geography program, where my classes and academic focus are centered in a field of study in which I'm truly interested. As I've gotten closer to graduation my classes have become progressively more interesting, and at the same time more difficult, but have been more focused in areas that I am able to get excited about studying--Geographic Techniques (Cartography, Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing), Cultural Geography, and Regional Studies. Many of these higher level geography courses promote critical and cross-disciplinary thinking, as the study of geography demands it."

Katie Haselwood

Katie Haselwood, graduate student
"The UNL geography program not only encourages students to take advantage of the variety of geography courses offered, but it also promotes studies in other departments. As a student of historical geography, close ties with the history department is an important component to my course of study."

Ryan Weichelt

Ryan Weichelt, graduate student
"My time at UNL has offered me a number of unique opportunities to expand my future in academia. Faculty are in close proximity to students, which in turn fosters a healthy student-advisor relationship important for facilitating all research goals. Beyond the strong relationships with the faculty, the department also offers the tremendous opportunity to instruct your own class. Teaching assistants are given great leeway in developing their own curriculum in a number of lower-level geography classes. I feel the graduate program provides students a strong foundation to begin their careers as well-respected and trained geographers."


Alumni:

Listing of alumni in the Geography Program

Current Faculty:

Participating Faculty  Area of Interest 
Douglas M. Amedeo  spatial theory, quantitative analysis, environment and behavior, diffusion 
John Clark Archer  political, settlement, computer cartography, GIS 
Kenneth F. Dewey  climate variations, severe weather 
Anatoly Gitelson  n/a 
Paul Hanson  geomorphology and landforms, climate change, physical geography of Nebraska and the Great Plains 
R.M. (Matt) Joeckel  surficial processes and landforms, soils and weathering, physical geography of Nebraska and the Great Plains 
Cody Knutson  environmental, development, and cultural, water resources and drought, risk management, environmental perceptions and justice, participatory decision making, qualitative/quantitative methods 
Stephen Lavin  map animation, map communication and design, symbolization, atlas design, GIS 
Merlin P. Lawson  climate change, climate reconstruction, remote sensing 
Richard Lonsdale  marginal lands, regional development 
James W. Merchant  remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), natural resources, land use/land cover characterization 
Sunil G. Narumalani  GIS, remote sensing, environmental studies 
Donald C. Rundquist  remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) 
Robert Stoddard  human/social, field techniques; South Asia 
Brian D. Wardlow  remote sensing, GIS, drought, land use/land cover characterization, biogeography, and environmental studies 
Donald A. Wilhite  climate, drought, human dimensions 
David Wishart  historical, dispossession of indigenous peoples, epistemology of Geography and History; Great Plains 
IPKRC Ethnic Geography GSO Cart Projects