300 Level Courses

GEOG 310 - Physical Geography Field Course

All your years of learning in the classroom are the setup for the immersive field experience offered by this course. Set in one of BC’s primary ecozones, this course provides in-depth experience of the environment and the tools/techniques that physical geographers use to measure it. On any given day you may be mapping ice-marginal channels, analyzing soils, assessing water quality, mapping groundwater flow, or sampling tree-rings at a variety of sites near the field camp. The course is designed to give opportunities to problem-solve and gain experience working in large and small group settings, building towards a cohort-based final project. Recommended to anyone interested in fieldwork in geography, earth and environmental science, water science, natural resource management, or anyone who wants to know more about the natural world.

GEOG 312 - Geography of Natural Hazards

This course uses virtual field experiences, role-playing exercises, and actual hazard case-studies built out through tutorial sessions in order to bring to life the geophysical causes and human based responses to natural hazards. The course is designed for students interested in geography, earth and environmental science, natural hazards, natural resource management, weather and climate, and anyone who wants to know more about the natural hazards in and around the environments they live in.

GEOG 313 - River Geomorphology

This course includes two types of experiential learning – labs and a field trip – both of which facilitate skill development and exploration of course concepts. On the 2-day field trip you will explore drainage basin and flood hydrology, river channel hydraulics, sediment transport and river morphology and change along the southern section of the Fraser River and several of its tributaries.  The course provides hands-on stream survey skills and an appreciation of alluvial rivers and the processes by which they modify the landscape. Recommended to students interested in geography, earth science, environmental science, water science, natural resource management, and anyone who is curious about their natural surroundings.

GEOG 324 - Geography of Transportation

In Transport Geography (GEOG 324), you are asked to confront the taken-for-granted and place-shaping role of transportation. The class will walk through downtown Vancouver, identifying  elements of the transportation system while being challenged to answer questions such as: How has/does this transportation element influence the surrounding urban environment and its use? To which places, people and opportunities does the transportation element give access? Who benefits from this accessibility? Does the transportation element limit the mobility, accessibility or activities of anyone? In another exercise, you will be asked to compare and contrast two Skytrain Stations in order to reveal the relationships between station design, surrounding land use patterns, and human activities within the transit precinct. In most terms, transport experts from the public, private and non-profit sectors are invited to speak to the class.