While the answer to the former is largely descriptive, the answer to the latter is entirely analytical. The geographer is concerned primarily with interpreting and explaining the occurrence, distribution, and interrelationships of the physical and cultural elements that can be discerned in the natural as well as the built environment. Geography is both a natural science and a social science as it examines people and their environment and serves as a bridge between the physical and cultural worlds. Physical geography is a natural science that is devoted to the study of such topics as weather, climate, natural vegetation, soils, water, and landforms. Human geography is a social science that examines such topics as population growth and migration, religion and language, social and political systems, patterns of livelihood and economic organization, folk and popular culture, and settlement systems.
Geographers also analyze regions that range in size from worldwide to local.
To facilitate geographic analysis, geographers use many research tools, including field observations, maps, computer graphics, remote sensing, statistics, and other quantitative methods as well as the most modern types of geographic information systems. For more information please see the College of Art and Sciences Geography Career Page .