“...fieldwork is the heart of Geography”

At Trent, field research has been a fundamental ingredient of the Geography curriculum since the department was first formed 40+ years ago. The founding members of the department believed you didn't teach geography just from a book, you had to experience it. After all, geography is a field science and the best way to learn about geography is to get outside the office, the classroom and the library and see what is going on. This tradition continues today. Beginning with the first year level, many of our courses have field components and a few, such as "Snow and Ice" and "The Field Course", are almost totally field based. Much of the field experience takes advantage of Trent's unique setting in Peterborough and the Kawarthas, which serves as a natural laboratory for field research.

Another important aspect of Geography’s field tradition is the strong emphasis on community-based education, in which students in upper-year human and physical geography courses have the opportunity to complete applied research projects to meet the needs of community groups, government agencies and local businesses. This is part of the longstanding commitment of faculty to the application of geographical knowledge and research skills to the solution of problems within society. In collaboration with the Trent Centre for Community-Based Education and the U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research (Haliburton County), more than 100 projects on various research topics have been completed by geography students enrolled in GEOG 4030 Community -Based Research in Geography since the late 1990s.

Our flagship course for fieldwork is GEOG 3860H Field Research in Geography. It is specifically designed to teach students about project design and preparation and then give them the opportunity to test these skills and learn new ones in a field setting far removed from the Trent campus. This course is only offered in alternate years.  For a description of the latest version of GEOG 3860H and information on other field courses try the links to the right of this page.

Field Research in Geography, Kananaskis (2010)