GAINESVILLE, FL – UF Online is proud to announce another addition to the University of Florida fully-online bachelor’s degree offerings.
Starting in January 2020, students may apply and enroll via UF Online in the Bachelor of Arts in Geography with a specialization in Environmental Geosciences offered by the UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). This academic offering, new to UF Online, is a joint program between the CLAS Departments of Geography and Geological Sciences, offering students an opportunity to earn a degree in Geography with an interdisciplinary curriculum integrating physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the environment and environmental systems. Previously, this academic program was only available to UF residential students on the Gainesville campus. Starting in January, however, access to this program and faculty has been extended to students who wish to earn this degree fully online, via UF Online.
“Expanding access to the University of Florida’s unique academic offerings is core to our public, land-grant mission. UF Online is a remarkable gateway for Gators to join our learning community from wherever they need to be,” said Evangeline Tsibris Cummings, Assistant Provost and Director of UF Online and former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official. “The environmental leaders of today and tomorrow must solve increasingly complex challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective. This unique program, jointly offered by Geography and Geological Sciences, will lay such an important cross-media and scientific foundation for their careers in the public or private sectors.”
Future Gators can apply and enroll in this online pathway whether they are a first time in college student, a transfer student who has already earned some college credit, or a graduate interested in earning a second bachelor’s degree. As a joint program between the Department of Geography and the Department of Geological Sciences, the curriculum integrates foundational knowledge in physical geography and geographic information systems (GIS) with physical and historical geology, as well as earth materials. Students have the opportunity to tailor their coursework to meet their interests by selecting from an array of geography and geology electives to acquire the technical and systematic skills necessary for future application in their professional lives.
“We are delighted to offer this applied science concentration that trains students not only knowledge of environmental geology but also marketable skills in geospatial analysis. Previous students, after graduation, have been working for government agencies, such as the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and State water management districts, or in private sectors, such as oil and gas,” said Dr. Liang Mao, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator within the Geography department.
