The world as our Laboratory

The world’s biggest bio-pharmaceutical campus, Clondalkin, Dublin

Is climate change really happening and what might its consequences be for us and our children? Why are civilisations and religion from different parts of the world clashing with one another and how might intercultural understanding and dialogue be promoted? Why are natural hazards seemingly occurring with increasing frequency and why do they tend to affect poor people more than the rich, women more than men, children more than adults, and ethnic minorities more than others? Why do people from different countries, regions, cities, and neighbourhoods have different life expectancies? How can societies make better usage of renewable energy resources? How can inner city poverty and deprivation best be studied? Is the growth of the European Union leading to the death of nation states? How might Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing be used to better understand social and natural events?

Fieldwork in the high Alps, Summer 2011.

The discipline of Geography is dedicated to answering questions such as these and as such could hardly be more relevant today. Geography is a distinctive subject that sits across the boundaries of the natural sciences on the one hand and the social sciences on the other. Geographers borrow and integrate insights from social sciences such as sociology, economics, politics and anthropology and from the natural sciences of geology, physics, chemistry and biology. Geography therefore bridges that niche between the natural and the social sciences and it is the integration between the two that lies at the heart of the discipline. Geography is about how people relate to and interact with the spaces, places, landscapes and environments in which they live. Geography therefore provides graduates with a broad understanding of the social, cultural, political, economic, environmental and natural issues facing contemporary society.

Graduates become competent in a number of generic skills including:

• Computer skills
• Internet use
• Problem solving
• Independent learning/self directed research
• Report writing
• Public presentations
• Use of audio-visual technology

They also acquire particular geographical skills. These include:

• Spatial/environmental understanding
• Cartography and GIS
• Geophysics/remote sensing
• Quantitative research methods
• Qualitative research methods
• Social surveys and analysis
• Landscape evaluation

Geography graduates have found employment in a broad range of areas including:  

• Planning
• Local/community development
• Housing policy
• Regional development
• Geographical Information Systems
• Diplomatic service
• Aviation Authority
• European Space Agency
• Teaching (primary, secondary, third level)
• Academic research
• Mineral/oil exploration
• Environmental Assessment and management
• Wildlife and nature conservation
• TV news production/research
• Journalism
• Financial services
• Public Relations
• Market Research
• Tourism
• Museum/heritage management

Benbulben, Co. Sligo