DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

The history of GGES, which I describe in the next few paragraphs, is also a demonstration of our critically reflective approach to serving our students. GGES continually examines how we teach and what we teach in order to address student interests and society’s needs, to nurture students’ love of learning and curiosity, and to guide students as they choose professions and contribute to their communities. The Department of Geography program at UWW was established in 1963 and included a Geography major and a Geology minor. By 2000, Geology had become a major program and the department changed its name to the Department of Geography and Geology. (Interestingly, Geography was first taught in 1868 at the Whitewater Normal School, UWW’s predecessor. A year later, in 1869, T. C. Chamberlin was hired to teach Geology. Chamberlin would go on to become one of the most important geologists of the 19th century.)

The creation of the Environmental Studies minor was the next step in our evolution. Attentive to the success of the interdisciplinary Nelson Institute at UW-Madison, and mindful of the fact that students were looking for courses related to the environment, UWW faculty developed the Environmental Studies minor. It is noteworthy and a testament to our good working relationships with colleagues from across campus that the Departments of Biology and Chemistry relied upon and trusted the Geography Department to manage this important minor. Since its inception, the minor has been modified several times as it strives to offer a comprehensive overview of environmental issues. Today, the Environmental Studies minor requires students to take course in three areas of study: the physical environment, human environment, and techniques. Courses can be chosen from departments within the College of Letters and Sciences along with Safety courses from the College of Business and Economics. Students from all four UWW colleges find that the Environmental Studies minor complements their major—a testament to its broad appeal and success.

The next major change for GGES was the development of the Environmental Science (ES) major, first offered in Fall of 2012. Effective July 1, 2015, the Department of Geography and Geology officially became the Department of Geography, Geology, and Environmental Science. The ES major was created in response to recommendations from the Science Alliance Advisory Board. This group is now defunct but lasted about 15 years during which time they guided resource development and made curricular recommendations for the physical sciences. The group believed that because environmental issues were so complex, a program was required that provided students with greater breadth than any single disciplinary area could do on its own.

Today, the ES major is administered by GGES, although key decisions are made by the Environmental Science Advisory Board, a small group of Biology and Geography faculty. The ES program provides an excellent foundation for students interested in a scientific approach to solving environmental problems. Developed to provide breadth, it trains students in all three emphasis areas—the natural sciences, geosciences, and in environmental resource management. The major also requires the completion of a specific techniques area chosen by each student—mapping, lab and field methods, chemistry, or writing. These techniques are designed to teach a specific skill set with a student interests and future employment in mind.

Our mission is to prepare students to engage with a complex, dynamic, and interdependent world by:

• Providing them with in-depth knowledge about human cultures and the physical world;

• Fostering intellectual and practical skills that enable analysis of spatial patterns and processes, evidenced-based problem solving, and effective oral and written communication; and

• Encouraging a sense of social responsibility through the examination of real-world cases.

Faculty are committed to preparing students for employment opportunities in the private and public sectors, the pursuit of graduate degrees, and to develop meaningful relationships to their university, professional, and local communities. We meet these goals through classroom lecture and discussion, collaborative assignments, undergraduate research, internships, field courses, and travel abroad.

Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary major that focuses on the state of the environment, processes of change, and the overall relationship between humans and the planet. Students are encouraged to draw connections between disciplines, understanding that the environmental issues we face now, and will face in the future, are very complex. These issues typically require knowledge of physical, biological and the social sciences in combination with the liberal arts to provide the tools needed to address these challenges. Our program will accomplish this by providing:

• Diverse curricula that prepare students for careers in the environmental sciences, or further graduate training.
• Courses relevant to the needs of the modern, interdisciplinary field of Environmental Science, grounded in the tradition of the liberal arts.
• Targeted emphases in the major that provide students with options for a variety of career paths.
• Substantial academic and career advising.
• Unique opportunities, such as internships and field experiences that enhance the ability of students to succeed in their chosen emphases.
• Strong science literacy and interdisciplinary knowledge.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the framework of the scientific method that lead to solutions to environmental problems.
• Encouragement to identify and consider a diversity of viewpoints.