Note: This program is unavailable until further notice.
Entrance requirements
Students can apply to the Physical Geography Honours program when they have met the following criteria:
Completion of 90 credits that apply to the Bachelor of Science, including at least 26 credits in geography.
A minimum GPA of 3.33 in all courses required for program completion.
Interested students are encouraged to seek out advice on the Physical Geography Honours program from Geography faculty or an Advisor as early as possible in their coursework, and to apply to the program at the earliest possible entry date.
How to apply
To apply, students will need to provide the following:
An honours program application package (available from the department assistant).
A portfolio that includes coursework (laboratory assignments, written papers, etc.) from select completed geography courses. The portfolio is a tool to be used by students, the Geography Honours Advisory Committee, and potential faculty project advisor to identify areas of improvement and potential project topics, as well as writing and research strengths and weaknesses. Portfolio guidelines are available from the department.
Students should submit application materials to the department assistant. The Geography Honours Advisory Committee will then arrange for a project supervisor. Interested students are encouraged to approach a departmental faculty member appropriate to their research interests who may serve as their honours supervisor.
Fees and additional costs
See the Fees and Other Costs section. Additional fees for course field trips and miscellaneous lab materials
will apply to all students enrolled in Geography programs.
Program outline
This section specifies the honours requirements only. Please refer to the Bachelor of Science section for information on additional requirements.
Lower-level requirements: 44-45 credits
Course
Title
Credits
One of:
4
GEOG 103
The Physical Environment
GEOG 116
Earth Rocks
One of:
3
GDS 100/
GEOG 109
A World of Development
GEOG 111
Environmental Issues and Strategies
GEOG 140
Introduction to
Human Geography
Two of:
8
GEOG 201
Climate and People
GEOG 202
Understanding Your Earth: Landforms and Processes
GEOG 219/
BIO 219
Biogeography
Plus:
GEOG 252
Explanation in Geography: Quantitative Methods
4
GEOG 253
Introduction to Geographic Information
Systems
4
GEOG 257/ CMNS 257
Environment: Science and Communications
3
One pair of:
10
BIO 111
Introductory Biology I
and BIO 112
Introductory Biology II
or CHEM 113
Principles of Chemistry I
and CHEM 114
Principles of Chemistry II
One of:
5
PHYS 101
Introductory General Physics: Mechanics and Fluids
PHYS 111
Mechanics
One of:
4
STAT 104
Introductory Statistics
STAT 106
Statistics I
STAT 270
Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Upper-level requirements: 39–45 credits
Course
Title
Credits
GEOG 353
GIS Applications
4
GEOG 433
Advanced Geography of a Selected Region
4
GEOG 491
Honours Research Design and Data Collection
4
GEOG 493
Honours Research Project in Physical Geography/GIS
4
STAT
315
Applied Regression Analysis (see Note 1)
3
Five of (including at least one 400-level course): (see Note 3)
20
GEOG 302
River Geomorphology
GEOG 303
Environmental Hydrology
GEOG 304
Coasts and Climate Change
GEOG 307
Climates of Cities
GEOG 308
Climate Change and Variability
GEOG 315
Soilscapes
GEOG 318
Water Resources Management
GEOG 319/ BIO 319
Swamps and Bogs
GEOG 335/ BIO 335
Freshwater Ecology
GEOG 402
Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology
GEOG 410/ BIO 410
Plant Ecology
GEOG 419 /BIO 419
Paleoecology
GEOG 453
Remote Sensing of the Environment
GEOG 454
Geospatial Data Analysis Modeling
GEOG 458
GIS Project
One of (professional competency in geography):
0–6
GEOG 396/ GDS 310/ SOC 396
Canada Internship
GEOG 398/ GDS 311/ SOC 398
International Internship
GEOG 412
Environmental Geography Practicum
GEOG 460
Practicum in Planning
GEOG 470
Field Studies in Geography
COOP 120
Co-op Work Term Performance and Report II
At least 60 volunteer or work experience hours in a related geography field (see Note 3)
Note 1: Students planning to apply for a Bachelor of Science, Physical Geography Honours, with a view to pursuing graduate studies should expect, in consultation with their honours supervisor, to take any additional Mathematics courses deemed applicable to their area of study.
Note 2: No more than eight credits may be in directed studies/directed
readings (GEOG 480, 482, 483, 484).
Note 3: Students planning to complete this option should contact the program coordinator for information and the process for demonstrating their learning.
An original research project, completed as part of:
GEOG 491
GEOG 493
Minimum CGPA of 3.33.
Research project
Successful completion of a research project is required prior to graduation.
This project is developed in consultation with a faculty supervisor and demonstrates students' advanced skills and knowledge in a given area of physical geography.
Students will complete this project in two courses. In the first course, students will design and collect data for their projects. This will be completed as part of GEOG 491 (Honours Research Design and Data Collection), or an equivalent third-year internship or fourth-year research-intensive course approved by the department. Students will then register in GEOG 493 (Honours Research Project in Physical Geography/GIS) to complete the data analysis and project write-up.
Each honours student will disseminate their research findings in a presentation to an academic audience (e.g. professional conference or department seminar) as well as through an academic research poster or alternative. Following project completion and presentation, the honours supervisor in consultation with a second reader, will assign a grade for GEOG 493.
Graduation requirements
A minimum CGPA of 3.33, including the mark awarded for
the final research project, must be attained in order for an honours designation to be awarded.