63 graduate courses in Waterloo’s course catalog for Spring 2020, from UW Open Data. uwloo can’t read that term’s Graduate Calendar, so this stands in for it; the calendar itself is in Waterloo’s archive.
An overview of concepts and methodologies in several aspects of spatial data handling: cartography, geographic information systems, remote sensing, spatial statistics. Analysis of spatial data sets. *eligible for MES.
Principles and techniques of analyzing environmental change from long time-series of remotely sensed imagery are examined. Case studies include the impacts of climate on sea ice and the role of natural and human-induced stress on tropical coral reefs. Prerequisites: Geography 603 or equivalent. *eligible for MES.
This course focuses on the extraction of hydrologically-relevant parameters from remote sensing that are germane to cold regions such as snowfall, snow cover, glaciers & ice caps, lake and river ice, permafrost, and seasonally frozen ground. The determination of hydrological parameters in the liquid and vapour phases such precipitiation, soild moisture, surface water, and evaporation/evapotranspiration from remote sensing, as well as the integration of remote sensing data into hydrological models are also covered. Prerequisites: UW undergraduates: GEOG 271, 371, 471 or undergraduate Geomatics degree. Undergraduate Geography degree with suitable remote sensing experience. Students with no remote sensing experience but strong GIS experience are required to take a 675 Directed Reading course entitled "Remote Sensing Analysis" prior to enrolment in 602. *eligible for MES.
This course will explore how remote sensing is used and in concert with empirical or physically-based models to help us better understand Earth system processes from the local to global scales. Students will learn how remote sensing measurements are coupled with radiative transfer models, energy and mass balance models and spatial analytical models from different components of the Earth system. Examples will be drawn from the hydrologic and carbon cycles from the human built enviornment. Prerequisites: UW undergraduates: Geog 271, 371, 471 or undergraduate Geomatics degree. Undergraduate degree with suitable remote sensing experience. Students with no remote sensing experience but strong GIS experience are required to take a 675 Directed Reading course entitled "Remote Sensing Analysis" prior to enrolment in 603. *eligible for MES.
GEOG 605Spatial Information Technology, Globalization and International Development
This course considers the role of GIS and RS technologies for problem solving and planning decision support in developing countries. Topics covered include the globalisation of information technology and its transfer from developed to developing countries and general aspects of the spatial information technology industry and its relationship to society. *eligible for MES.
GEOG 606Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
Introduction to GIS concepts and to their application in geographic studies using basic GIS software. This course is designed for students with little or no prior experience with GIS. *eligible for MES.
GEOG 607Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems
Introduces the fundamentals of GIS at a graduate level, including cartographic best practices, map projections and coordinate systems, georeferencing data, quantitative mapping, web mapping, and introductory spatial analysis, including clustering, network, and multicriteria analysis. Intended for students without significant experience in GIS. *eligible for MES.
An overview of high-resolution remote sensing systems and advanced study of image segmentation, data fusion, feature extraction, and change detection algorithms. Topics include 3D city modeling, land use/cover classification, urban heat island study, urban sprawl monitoring, and risk mapping. *eligible for MES.
GEOG 609GIS and Spatial Decision Support for Planning and Resource Management
This course introduces students to key theories, concepts and techniques that have been developed recently to improve the design support capabilities of spatial information systems. Topics covered include participatory GIS, group-based spatial decision support systems, and the integration of multi-criteria analysis (MCA) methods with GIS to facilitate decision-making in planning. *eligible for MES
Examination of industrial location theory, and themes concerning the role of manufacturing in the space-economy. Factors of location will be considered as will the way that manufacturing has led to spatial disparity on international, regional and local levels.
GEOG 613Innovation and Economic Development in Cities and Regions
This course offers a critical examination of the innovation, knowledge creation and circulation, and governance processes that underpin contemporary economic development in cities and regions. Strategies, policies and programs that are intended to support and promote innovation and economic development in urban and regional economies are analyzed.
Community Economic Development is a field of theory, process and practice that is concerned with understanding the forces shaping communities and finding sustainable local solutions to economic needs. This seminar course will examine topics such as capacity-building, asset-based strategies, social capital, poverty-alleviation, social enterprises and co-operatives, and comprehensive community initiatives, using international and local examples and case studies.
Theory and application of multivariate statistics, regression and correlation analysis, factor analysis, discriminant analysis and grouping analysis, with emphasis on the use of the computer. *eligible for MES.
Presentation of analytical and simulation models useful in analyzing geographic phenomena such as spatial interaction, spatial dependence, spatial equilibria and locational optimization; consideration is given to both theoretical and empirical components. *eligible for MES
The course provides an overview and hands-on application of the quantitative analytical methods regularly used by professionals in economic development and related fields. Emerging analytical tools and techniques are explored.
This seminar will provide a broad survey of the interdisciplinary scope of human geography and investigate a wide range of human/society dynamics, theoretical positions and methodologies. The format of inquiry will be that of a seminar wherein students conduct original research and exchange results through ongoing reports and discussions.
A seminar on selected topics of particular relevance to understanding and planning for contemporary processes of metropolitan change in Canada. Major topics represent an interrelated set of exogenous forces, (globalization, economic restructuring, technological innovation and immigration and demographic shift), and endogenous structural responses, (central city decline, revitalization, dispersed styles of suburban development and new urbanist and ecologically sustainable styles of planned intervention).
An exploration of observed patterns of human activity and travel, underlying decision-making processes, data collection methodologies, and associated impacts on environment and health.
This course is designed to investigate the range of qualitative research methods (research tools) employed by human geographers and explore the methodological justifications (philosophical or theoretical underpinnings) for using this type of research approach. Qualitative methods attempt to interpret meaning as opposed to purely measuring phenomena. The focus of qualitative research is not descriptive measurement and prediction of phenomena, as offered by statistical description/analysis, but is more attuned to examining subjective understandings and the interpretation of meaning (hermeneutics). This course will examine and evaluate the range of research tools comprising qualitative methods including: various interviewing methods, participant observation, ethnography, case study methods and dicourse analysis. It will also engage with the theoretical debates and philosophical approaches that underpin qualitative research.
GEOG 635International Development: Theories and Practice
This course emphasizes both theoretical and conceptual frameworks, techniques, practices and methods for analysis of development, focusing in particular on the development - environment interface and questions of sustainability.
This course will engage with the parameters of cultural geography from varying perspectives, which might include origins, evolution, impacts of the cultural turn, and future directions.
This course examines sustainability issues relevant to tourism. Conceptual and practical examples related to economic, environmental, and social/cultural sustainability of tourism are critically appraised, combined with reviews of policy and institutional effects on sustainability practices. The course also focuses on best practices in sustainable tourism within government, non-government and private sector.
The course examines emerging and existing sustainable food systems from a North American and EU perspective. Topics may include: technology, nature and society; policy dimensions in North American and the EU; knowledge and power; spaces of consumption; the moral economy; new urbanism and food planning; and, food networks such as commodity chains and fairly traded food.
Basic concepts related to temporal and spatial scales together with variability as they directly affect data collection and analysis. Leading edge research related to selected sub-disciplines of physical geography will be critically discussed. *eligible for MES.
The course examines the interactive physical, biological and geochemical processes responsible for and resulting from climate change, including anthropogenic influences on these processes. *eligible for MES.
Advanced study of boundary-layer meteorology. Energy balance regimes for complex surfaces are examined. The theory of turbulent and radiant transfer is studied using field data collected during the course. *eligible for MES.
An overview of current issues and methodologies in geomorphology with special emphasis on processes operating in fluvial, glacial, periglacial or coastal environments. *eligible for MES.
An examination of the way in which human activities modify landscapes and the impacts of government policy and planning with respect to landscape change. The role of the geomorphologist in landscape rehabilitation. *eligible for MES.
GEOG 645Fluvial & Glaciofluvial Sediment Transport
Laboratory (hydraulic) models and sediment transport theory are emphasized in the analysis of modern and ancient (Pleistocene) landforms of fluvial and glaciofluvial origin. *eligible for MES.
Overview of hydrological processes with emphasis on Canadian examples related to the hydrologic cycle, surface hydrology, groundwater hydrology, and measurement techniques. *eligible for MES.
Selected topics on the distribution, classification, functional dynamics, and ecosystem structure of wetlands. A scientific basis for wetlands management is emphasized. *eligible for MES.
This course examines the use of stratigraphic records from lakes to reconstruct environmental change. Topics include sediment coring techniques, radiometric dating methods, analysis of physical, geochemical and biological indicators, and case studies demonstrating applications to address scientific and management questions. Practical experience is gained from a lake sediment coring field trip and subsequent laboratory analyses. *eligible for MES.
This course provides an overview of the hydrology of cold regions. Physical processes are emphasized, but hydrological modeling, and geochemistry are included where appropriate. *eligible for MES.
GEOG 651Hydroecology for Freshwater Ecosystem Management
This course examines the interaction in both space and time between hydrological processes and lacustrine environments. Applications to freshwater ecosystem management are explored.
GEOG 652Climate Prediction, Modeling and Scenarios
Computer models of the physical climate system are essential tools for investigating future climate change. This course will introduce students to the basic formulation of these models, and their strengths and limitations. Inter-linkages between climate modeling and mitigation and adaptation policy agendas is reviewed and critiqued. The types of climate modeling experiments peformed with such models and scenarios will be reviewed. The latest projections of future climate on a variety of temporal and spatial scales will be presented and evaluated. *eligible for MES
This course examines contemporary theories, approaches, and technologies used to study coupled natural-human systems at the intersection of land-use and land-cover change, land management, and the carbon cycle. Topics covered include measurement and modelling techniques to improve carbon accounting, the effects of land use and land management on carbon storage and flux, and international and national policy frameworkds influencing carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation. *eligible for MES
This course focuses on ecological and biogeochemical processes that are linked to the hydrological cycle and how these relate tothe management of natural resources. The objectives of this interdisciplinary course are to explore topics that integrate ecosystem processes with physical hydrology, and examine the impacts of human activities on the ecohydrological system. Therefore the focus of this course is on the storage and movement of water, solutes and nutrients within selected ecosystems, considering the ecological consequences of human activit. *eligible for MES
This course examines the processes controlling the spatial and temporal changes in snowcover, and the role of snow in Canada's hydrological system. Applications to water resources, hydrological prediction and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems will be considered.
GEOG 661AApplied Studies in Hydrology and the Environment 1
This applied hydrology course involves defining, designing and conducting research on the hydrology and/or water quality of a specific environmental setting. Drawing on strengths and interests of students, the field and laboratory activities in this course typically involve collection, analysis and reporting of primary data. The Fall-term (661A) focuses on literature review, problem definition, methodological design and data collection; the Winter-term (661B) includes analysis, interpretation and write-up suitable for publication in a refereed journal. Group work is typically involved. *eligible for MES
GEOG 664Political Ecology: Nature, Society and Sustainability
Readings, discussions and case study analysis draw attention to the intersection of political-economy and ecological analysis, and contested understandings of environmental change, livelihoods and sustainability. Topics may include communities and conservation, knowledge systems and power, ecological change, property rights and institutions, social movements, and methods. *eligible for MES.
GEOG 665Environmental Planning Theory and Practice
An interdisciplinary approach to environmental planning. Focuses on the socio-economic, planning, environmental science, design, and decision-making theories and methods utilized in environmental planning theory and practice. Regional and local case studies and studio projects will be used to demonstrate professional practice issues and techniques. Recommended: A senior level course in ecology, environmental science, landscape architecture or equivalent. *eligible for MES.
An ecological approach to planning national and provincial parks, focusing on system planning, master planning and park administration. Examination of the theory and practice of parks planning, utilizing ecological concepts. Recommended: a senior undergrad or graduate ecology course. Estimated additional field trip cost to student: $30.00 *eligible for MES
Renewable and non-renewable energy supply systems are compared using economic and environmental measures. Consumption trends, conservation options and choices are considered at the household, community and global scales. Projects are used to demonstrate the economic and environmental challenges in the design of sustainable energy systems. *eligible for MES.
An examination of socioeconomic-biophysical system interactions emphasizing multi- and transdisciplinary perspectives such as human ecology, health, ecosystems, and complexity. Students normally focus on one particular problem and region to illustrate concepts and methods. *eligible for MES
GEOG 673International Perspectives on Resource and Environmental Management
An overview of issues, problems and concepts in international resource and environmental management. The complex nature of ecological/biophysical, economic, and sociocultural aspects of resource management will be explored, with particular emphasis placed on tracing challenges experienced in developing countries. *eligible for MES
This course examines the scientific and practical challenges of utilizing climate data for decision-making, as well as the professional ethics associated with providing climate services. Through lectures, videos, guest speakers, and technical assignments this course explores how both historical data and climate change scenarios can be used for both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Usability of weather and climate data is an essential ingredient for developing effective responses. From a general discussion on the value of weather and climate information, the course explores how both historical climate data is an essential ingredient for developing effective responses. From a general discussion on the value of weather and climate information, the course explores how both historical climate data and climate change scenarios can be used to assess climate risk in a variety of sectors, including range of decision support tools. This will include such areas as: community planning (e.g. vulnerability mapping and resilience assessments); engineering (e.g. climate design criteria for infrastructure); emergency response planning (e.g. hazard and risk management); business (carbon accounting and climate proofing) and human health (e.g. development of robust heart-hearth alert systems). In addition, this course covers the theory and application of climate indicators for ongoing assessment and monitoring of adaptation actions. Students must have access to spreadsheet software for assignments. *eligible for MES.
Topic(s) to be negotiated on an individual basis with faculty members. An outline for this course, approved by the professor in charge, must be submitted to the Program Director, within three weeks of registration.
GEOG 676Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation
This course examines the impacts of changing climate on natural and human systems and focuses on the capacity of societies to adjust to, plan for and cope with changing climate and environmental conditions. *eligible for MES
GEOG 677Climate Change, Natural Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction
This course explores the complex links between climate change and natural hazards, and related disasters, including disaster risk reduction as an adaptation strategy. Emphasis is placed on examining these concepts in a developing country context. *eligible for
GEOG 678Climate Change Governance: From Global Treaties to Local Innovation
This course explores the theories behind, and practical approaches to, the multi-level governance of climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, national climate action plans and local innovation are viewed through the lenses of legitimacy, effectiveness, and participation. Finally, we consider the challenge of transformative change, and the possibility of finding synergies among climate change responses and other pressing social and environmental priorities.
This course examines the anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the range of strategies to reduce these emissions and to enhance carbon sequestration. The policy frameworks governing climate change mitigation are critically appraised from geopolitical, economic and ethics perspectives. This course also considers the potential role of climate remediation strategies. *eligible for MES
A critical approach to the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Geospatial Web and location-based services. Topics covered include Volunteered Geographic Information, open data, locational privacy, and mobile data collection. Assignments are used to experiment with course concepts. *eligible for MES
GEOG 685Economic Development: Theories and Frameworks
This course reviews the evolution and foundations of contemporary economic development. It offers a critical appraisal of approaches and frameworks that are adopted to understand and analyze economic development processes at different geographic scales.
An analysis of changing methods and philosophy of geographic research with emphasis on problem formulation and the design and evaluation of geographic research.
The aim of this course is to provide academic credit for a foreign academic learning experience.This will take one of the following formats: study with a foreign expert, a specialized graduate course taken at a foreign institution, or a research/study project abroad conducted under the guidance of an approved advisor. In all instances the plan of study must be approved before a student leaves and in each case a final approved report must be submitted.