Geography and Environmental Sustainability

Program Level: Pre-Majors/Transfer
Department: Social Sciences
Institute: Science & Technology
College: NVC

Geography and Environmental Sustainability Courses Links of Interest Faculty & Staff Apply Now

 

About the Program

There are three pre-majors in this discipline: Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, and Geography. This program is designed to help prepare students to transfer to a university and major in one of these areas.

Environmental Science focuses primarily on science that drives environmental problems. This pre-major focuses on biology, environmental science, and mathematics up through calculus. At the university level you can expect to branch out into ecology, environmental management, wildlife management, or aquatic science.

Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary pre-major. Studies include such courses as anthropology, economics, basic statistics, and technical writing. The focus is on solving environmental problems at the intersection of science and human interactions with nature. At the university level you may branch out into urban planning, resource policy, climate change, or even non-profit management.

Geography and Environmental Sustainability is another interdisciplinary pre-major that incorporates multiple aspects of geography at NVC: human, physical, and world. At the university level you can branch out into sustainability and climate change, world regions, urban planning, and geographic information systems.

What will I learn?

Our courses provide introductions to geographical and environmental concepts related to:

  • The Earth’s physical systems (ex. weather and climate, landforms, atmosphere, hydrosphere, etc.)

  • Relationships between humans and the environment (ex. place, globalization, culture, language, religion, etc.)

  • Relationships between regions (ex. trade, economic development, conflict, etc.)

  • The science and policy of global and regional environmental issues (ex. pollution, climate change, sustainability, etc.)

What can I do with this course of study?

These areas of study will prepare you for careers in government, non-profits, and private organizations with job titles such as:

  • Urban planner

  • Environmental regulator

  • Transportation planner

  • Environmental planner

  • Emergency management coordinator

  • Water resource specialist

  • Fish and wildlife manager
    and many job titles in the energy sector.

    The occupational outlook for these fields based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016) include:

  • 11% growth (faster than the average for all occupations)

  • Median pay of $68,900/year or $33/hour

What is special about this program?

Our GEOG courses cross over between the Social Sciences core (GEOG 1302 and GEOG 1303) and the Natural and Physical Science core (GEOG 1301).

• The GEOG courses will track you directly into a Geography and Environmental Sustainability BA degree at UTSA.

• The ENVR courses will track directly into an Environmental Science BS or Environmental Studies BA degree at UTSA.
Please see the Transfer Advising Guides for additional courses required for these pre-majors leading to degrees at UTSA.

The skills you will learn in our courses include:

  • Environmental research

  • Working in diverse groups

  • Oral and written communication

  • Project-based work

  • Critical thinking

  • Information literacy

  • Adventure Science opportunities for environmental fieldwork and study abroad immersion field work (contingent upon course offerings).

 

Available Courses:

Course Descriptions

GEOG 1301 Physical Geography

GEOG 1303 World Regional Geography

ENVR 1301 Environmental Science I

GEOG 1302 Human Geography

GEOG 2389 Academic Cooperative

ENVR 1302 Environmental Science II

 

Faculty and Staff

 
Faculty

Scott L. Walker, ScEdD
swalker6@alamo.edu

Chuck Yeager, PhD
cyeager3@alamo.edu 

 
Staff

Nakotah Terburg
nterburg@alamo.edu 


Contact Us

Scott Walker, ScEdD
Program Coordinator

Location:
LOH 306

Phone:
210-486- 4865

Chuck Yeager, PhD
Assistant Professor

Location:
PH 201

Phone:
210-486- 4675