Explore our Graduate Programs
The Department of Geography offers graduate programs leading to degrees in the Master of Arts (MA) or Master of Science (MS), and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The department’s graduate programs emphasize Human Geography, Physical Geography, and Geographic Information Science. Because of the small size of the faculty, most students follow an individualized program that includes courses and seminars in related disciplines. Although the department requires knowledge of the fundamentals of Geography, we welcome students whose undergraduate work has been in other disciplines and who can apply their training to geographic problems.
All graduate students should frequently consult the Geography Graduate Student Handbook. This document contains information about your curriculum requirements, progress meetings, the comprehensive exam process, how satisfactory progress is determined, resources available to you. and much, much more. Please be familiar with the contents and use it as a reference for programmatic questions you may have.
Geography Graduate Handbook 23-23
Master’s Degree
Our master’s students are free to pursue a more generalized study of cultural, physical, or environmental geography.
Doctorate Degree
Our Ph.D. program closely follows the research interests of the Geography faculty.
Researching Forest Management
“In the TEEL lab, we work with ecosystem models at landscape scales to project how our forested lands will develop into the future and use scenario analysis driven by stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of different forest management strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation. My research focuses of the perhumid region of southeast Alaska and coastal British Columbia, where newly implemented forest management plans have shifted towards preserving old-growth by harvesting only in areas that have been historically harvested in the past. My goal is to understand how this shift in forest management will affect the carbon trajectories of these forests under different climate change scenarios. I am also developing a new module of LANDIS-II that will better simulate the cyclical storms found in this region and the resulting tree mortality due to windthrow.”
—James Lamping, Geography doctoral candidate, '25
Graduate Courses
The department’s graduate programs emphasize Human Geography, Physical Geography, and Geographic Information Science.
Funding your Graduate Studies
The Department of Geography offers multiple awards to help fund graduate student research.
Prepare for the Professional World
The UO Teaching Engagement Program’s Graduate Teaching Initiative offers UO graduate students structured and rigorous, yet flexible, pathways to develop as college teachers.
Career and Professional Development
Our Graduate Students
Our graduate students pursue their academic research within a vibrant community of engaged and inquisitive peers.
Resources for the Graduate Community
