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Geography is the scientific field focused on planet Earth. Geographers study virtually everything about our world from continents to oceans, from volcanoes to glaciers, from people to plants, from climate change to water spouts.
Modern geography is not about memorizing place names. Above all, geographers want to understand our home world and the complex, changing relationships between its inhabitants and their environments.
Incredibly interdisciplinary, geography is typically divided into two key branches: human geography and physical geography. The former covers such areas as politics, economics, culture, population, history, and more. The latter investigates biodiversity, ecology, meteorology, topography, hydrology, and still more.
Geography courses at Inver Hills delve into the relationships between the natural elements and human societies, bringing you closer to the interactions that define life on Earth. You can also apply your coursework to the degree requirements for both two-year and four-year degrees.
Studying geography prepares you to think critically about major challenges confronting humankind and the profusion of living beings that share our world. If you enjoy the social and Earth sciences, mastering new tools, and gathering data that help explain the complexities of ecosystems both natural and made by people, then geography could be your ticket to a bright future.
We offer courses on Earth as our home as well as courses that investigate the geography of world regions, the U.S., Canada, and Minnesota. Other courses analyze human and physical geography. We also offer courses on map interpretation, meteorology, renewable and depletable, GIS, energy, climate, and the environment.
Continuing your studies in geography opens doors to a rewarding career in the private or public sectors. Many geographers exercise their geographic information system (GIS) skills as surveyors, cartographers, and geoscientists. Geographers also work as civil engineers and urban planners on public works and conservation projects.
Geographers in both the human and physical branches can choose from a sizeable variety of career paths. As a human geographer, you can work in government, private consulting, industry, the nonprofit sector, urban and regional planning, transportation, eco-tourism, international affairs, and more.
As a physical geographer, you will explore the patterns and processes of our environment. Because conservation, land management, climate studies, energy, ecology, and other environmental fields influence how societies function, the work of human and physical geographers are intertwined.