Human geography is concerned with the spatial aspects of human existence - how people and their activities are distributed in space, how they use and perceive space, and how they create and sustain the places that make up the earth's surface. Human geographers
work in the fields of urban and regional planning, social services, transportation, marketing, real estate, tourism, and international business. Physical geographers study patterns and interactions of climates, land
forms, vegetation, soils, and water. They forecast the weather, manage land and water resources, and analyze and plan for forests, rangelands, and wetlands. Many human and physical geographers have skills in cartography
and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Geographers also study the linkages between human activity and natural systems. Geographers were, in fact, among the first scientists to sound the alarm that human-induced changes to the environment were beginning
to threaten the balance of life itself. They are active in the study of global warming, desertification, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, groundwater pollution, and flooding.
Career Choices
Cartographer
Climatologist
Computer analyst
Ecologist
Economist
Educator
Environmental scientist/manager
Geomorphologist
GIS specialist
Health care
Market research analyst
Meteorologist
Natural resource manager
Researcher
Urban and transportation planner
Work settings include:
Consulting companies
Engineering and marketing consultants
GIS software development, implementation
Local, city and/or state planning offices
Multinational corporations
Real estate developers
Social services organizations
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center
U.S. Bureau of the Census
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
U.S. Defense Mapping Agency
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Economic Development Administration
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration