The Environmental Planning and Conservation concentration meets the needs of students seeking careers in government, business and non-profit organizations and for students who wish to pursue a graduate degree in geography. Emphasis in this concentration is on a geosciences approach to environmental issues employing geotechnology, including geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and spatial analytics. Geotechnology merges sophisticated hardware (computers, drones, satellites, instrumentation) with software applications (mapping, flight control, imagery management, spatial analytics). Students will learn how to apply geotechology and planning principles to the management of natural and human-built environments, and understand human-environmental dependencies in land uses such as agricultural practices and urban sprawl that often result in wetland loss, deforestation, desertification and declining water quality. An appropriate sequence of courses enables students to acquire an appreciation of the challenges to developing sustainable solutions.

Learning Outcomes