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Department of Geology and Geography
Geography
Geographic Setting
Georgia Southern University is located at Statesboro, Georgia (Location Map), approximately 50 miles inland from Savannah and 200 miles southeast from Atlanta. Created in 1803 to serve the growing agricultural community, Statesboro is the largest city as well as the county seat of Bulloch County.
According to the 2007 US Census, the city’s total population was almost 26,000; White (53%) and African American (39.4%) were the two dominating ethnic groups; the median family was $35,391; and about 42.6% of the population was below the poverty line. The economy of Statesboro depends heavily on agriculture, high education, health care, government service, and retailing. Georgia Southern University is the city’s largest employer. The Wal-Mart distribution center, East Georgia Regional Medical Center, and city and county governments are the other three major employers in the city.
Statesboro occupies a total area of 12.6 square miles. Ecologically, the city sits in the midst of Pine and Live Oak forests developed on the low relief ancient Pleistocene sea floor. The area is drained by the nearby Ogeechee River and several of its tributaries. Statesboro is served by four major highways, Interstate 16, U.S. Highway 301, U.S. Highway 25, and U.S. Highway 80. Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport, 45 miles to the east, is the choice of the most travelers to fly from.
Geography Program Highlights
Highlights of the Department's Geography program include:
Human Geography
Human Geography focuses on patterns and processes of human interaction with the built environment and the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activities on the Earth's surface (e.g., migration, transportation systems, urbanization, socio-economic conditions, and tourism). The human geography program is mainly centered on the research interests of Drs. Thomas Chapman, Wei Tu, and Robert Yarbrough. Topics of current research projects include community geography, structural changes of the U.S. economy, geographies of human rights and social justice, the politics-of-place and identity construction, immigration studies, place and identity, critical social geographies, and spatial analysis of infectious diseases. Regional expertise covers Asia, Europe, South America, and North America.
Students in Independence Square, Quito, Ecuador, May, 2008
Physical Geography
Physical Geography focuses on the processes and patterns in the natural environment (e.g., global warming, land-use and land-cover change, water resources, deforestation, and soil erosion). The physical geography program of the Department is mainly centered on individual research projects of Drs. Brian Bossak and Mark Welford. Topics of current research projects include conservation, biogeography and geodynamics of Andean cloud forest; fluvial and hillslope geomorphology; biogeography of birds, natural hazards, and coastal risk assessment.
Luke Davis at Cotopaxi (~15750 ft), Ecuador, March, 2005
Geographic Information Science (GISci)
Geographic Information Science is based computer systems used to collect, store, analyze, and communicate spatially related data. GISci encompasses techniques in geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing (RS), global positioning systems (GPS), and spatial analysis. The Department’s GISci program was initiated in the late 1990s and a minor in GIS was established in 2000. Currently five GISci-related courses are offered by Drs. Brian Bossak, Thomas Chapman, Wei Tu, and Dallas Rhodes. Topics of current research projects include community geography, spatial analysis of infectious diseases, spatial patterns of low birth weight in southeast Georgia. Click to read more about our GISci Program.
Dr. Tom Chapman Lecturing in the GIS Lab
Bachelor of Science with a Major in Geography
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the Bachelor of Science with a Major in Geography degree program at their September 1997 meeting. The geography B.S. degree is designed to expose students to the areas of human, physical, regional geography, as well as geographic techniques. The Bachelor of Science degree requires that students complete a directed research project and submit the results as a thesis.
Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Geography
The B.A. degree in geography was initiated in January 2004. The B.A. in geography degree is designed to expose students to the areas of human, physical, regional geography, as well as geographic techniques. The Bachelor of Arts degree requires completion of minor in another discipline as well as the course work in geography.
Students are encouraged to contact any member of the geography faculty or Dr. Dallas D. Rhodes, the Department’s Chairperson, for further information. A schedule of courses required for the major under the present semester system is available.
Geography Links
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