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Next year at Mount Allison
Considering studying geography and the environment
at Mount Allison next year? Read a description of the department
below and follow the links on the side bar or in the quick
links to find out about the programs we offer. If you cannot
find the information you are looking for, please contact the
Department Head, Colin Laroque by telephone (506)364-2390 or
email: claroque@mta.ca.
The Geography and Environment Department offers
three majors: a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Geography, a BA in
Environmental Studies, and a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in
Environmental Science. A B.A. or B.Sc. Minor in Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) is also offered.
 Learning
occurs through lectures, lab work, field study, library and
archival searching. Field trips form an increasingly important
part of our educational process. In recent years, in addition
to course related trips within the Maritime region, Newfoundland,
and Montreal, there have been trips to the Carolinas, Louisiana,
Bermuda, and Dominica.
Research
The research done in the Department is internationally recognized
in the field of global environmental change. Current work
on the interactions between people, trees and forests in the
Caribbean is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council.
Another faculty member is part of one of the largest global
research networks formed during the International Polar Year
(IPY). This funded research examines the effects
of climate change in the Canadian Arctic. Other research
using dendrochronology (tree ring analysis) to monitor climate
change effects over time in Atlantic Canada, with emphasis
on old growth forests, received funding from the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Faculty are funded for such projects as public education and
technology, environmental education, community-based urban
planning, human influences on coastal wetlands, historical
settlement and heritage preservation, industrial innovation
and knowledge formation.
In addition, students can carry out their own
research. To read more about student research please click
here.
Facilities
The department has a state of the art Geo-Spatial Data Centre.
This centre provides a teaching lab and research space for
faculty and students. It supports a range of Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) software used by researchers and industry. In
fact, the U.S. Department of Labor has listed this type of
geotechnology as one of the three most important new career
areas.
The Marine Macroecology
and Biogeochemistry Lab houses an interdisciplinary research
group (with the Math and Computer Science Department) interested
in large-scale ecological, evolutionary and biogeochemical
phenomena in the oceans. The primary goal is to understand
and anticipate the effects of climate change on marine organisms.
They use a combination of theoretical and data-driven models,
remote-sensed, field and laboratory data, and fossil records
to see how changes in climate and environmental conditions
alter marine biological communities.
The department also has its own MAD
Lab, the Mount Allison Dendrochronology Lab, which conducts
tree-ring related research. Students participate in summer
research projects examining such things as habitats of endangered
species, reconstructing climate over the last 500 years, or
dating of historical buildings.
In addition geomorphological research is conducted
in the University’s Coastal
Wetland Institute, a highly specialized facility providing
laboratory and field research tools and instrumentation.
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