Geography and Environmental Planning

The University of Maine at Farmington Geography and Environmental Planning program is designed to help you discover your own interests within the field of geography and environmental planning.

The UMF Geography and Environmental Planning program will provide you with the ability to think creatively and critically — giving you a strong skill set essential for fast-growing careers in areas such as:

Here, you’ll pursue personal and professional interests by choosing your own path in Geography or Environmental Policy and Planning.

In each path, you’ll develop expertise in one of several possible concentrations, such as:

Or you can design your own concentration — developing a specific tailored-just-for-you concentration that fits your personal interests and career goals.

Internship & Research Opportunities

At UMF, you’ll engage in hands-on research projects and work side by side with faculty in the field and GIS lab on real world issues and solutions — local and global. You’ll also join a larger professional community by presenting your own research at campus-wide events and at regional and nation conferences.

Eve Fischer, a University of Maine at Farmington student from Portland and a 2020-21 Maine Policy Scholar, recently presented her research study on the resurgence of the invasive European green crab in the Gulf of Maine to the Maine State Legislature. 

In here presentation to the Maine State Legislature Marine Resources committee she discussed the importance of the Gulf of Maine, how it has supported a long tradition in the seafood industry, the negative impact the invasive green crab is having, and some potential policy solutions Maine could use to control them.

Her research included findings from her summer 2021 internship with Manomet, a non-profit organization that works across North and South America to create a more sustainable world. During that study, she examined the complex issue of the invasive species, the serious threat it poses to Maine’s valuable marine industries and species, and policies elsewhere that have been developed to manage them.

Fischer learned the crabs could be processed for lump crab meat and soft-shell crabs, which could provide a valuable resource to Maine restaurants. She shared with legislators that the culinary market has the greatest potential value and may be a significant future market for the invasive green crab problem.

“Eve’s work on green crabs is a perfect example of how UMF supports professional development in multiple ways,” said UMF Assistant Professor of Geography and Environmental Planning Jesse Minor. “Her summer internship, the Maine Policy Scholarship, serving as a teaching assistant for my Honors First-Year Fusion class, and a semester-long independent study all combined to support her investigations into a real-world environmental problem that is causing real harm to Maine’s marine ecosystems.”

• See more in UMF in the News

Other recent student internship and research projects:

• A mapping and sustainability project at an oyster aquaculture farm in Phippsburg, Maine
• A video documentary of the Farmington street art scene
• A photo collage illustrating a student’s investigation of a public art project in Detroit
• A photographic documentary of skiing at Tuckerman Ravine, Mt. Washington
• An inventory of sustainability practices in Rangeley, Maine, resulting in a web map and interactive mobile app
• A study of Mayan women’s access to birth control in the Guatemalan highlands
• An analysis of a community gardening project at a middle school in Belfast, Maine.

Our graduates have worked as environmental educators, cartographers and GIS managers, business analysts, field technicians and managers at environmental consulting firms, planners and program directors for nonprofits and government agencies, Maine guides and tourism operators and in a variety of other careers.

UMF Named a 2023 “Top Green College” by Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition

The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition provides a comprehensive measure of a school’s performance as an environmentally aware and prepared institution.

According to The Princeton Review, out of the over 710 schools considered for this project, all 455 Green Colleges (which includes the University of Maine at Farmington) profiled on its site are, in their opinion, truly up to the task of training the next generation of leaders, people who will be responsible for putting green ideas into practice.

Specifically, it includes:

• Whether students have a quality of life on campus that is both healthy and sustainable
• How well a school is preparing students for employment in an increasingly green economy
• How environmentally responsible a school’s policies are

The Princeton Review chose the 455 colleges based on its 2021–22 survey of administrators at 713 colleges concerning their institutions’ sustainability-related policies, practices, and programs. The Review’s editors analyzed more than 25 data points from the survey to tally Green Rating scores for the schools on a scale of 60 to 99. Colleges that earned a Green Rating score of 80 or higher, such as UMF, were chosen for the Guide to Green Colleges.

UMF made the Princeton Review Top Green College list in 2023, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

UMF Named a 2020 Best Choice Colleges “Most Affordable Eco-friendly College”

Best Choice Colleges named the University of Maine at Farmington the #4 Most Affordable Eco-friendly College in the Nation.

To decide the 50 Most Affordable Eco-Friendly Colleges, Best Choice Colleges consulted organizations such as the Sierra Club, U.S. News & World Report, and The Princeton Review to come up with American colleges and universities that have a solid reputation as “eco-friendly.”

From there, it consulted nearly 100 universities’ own websites to determine the annual undergraduate tuition. Finally, it ranked each university from lowest to highest annual tuition, in order to determine the 50 most affordable.

All of the schools on the list have unique structures or lifestyle characteristics that make them leaders in sustainability. They have all earned formal “green” ratings from one major agency or another, and most have been recognized by respected groups dedicated to protecting the environment

Whether you’re looking for an education in order to pursue a career in environmentalism, or are just interested in living a life of sustainability, Farmington is dedicated to the idea of sustainable living: a LEED-certified building, a sustainable biomass heating facility, geo-thermal wells for heating and cooling campus buildings, even an on-campus community vegetable garden. Here at UMF, you don’t need to spend a fortune in tuition and fees just to attend a responsibly eco-friendly college.

See Geography & Environmental Planning student Alicia Gaiero (included in this three-student video) on why she chose Farmington

Want to save more than $6,000 per year in tuition? This University of Maine at Farmington program qualifies for the New England Regional Program tuition discount.

This price break is for residents of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont for the 2023-2024 academic year — a savings of more than $6,000.

Contact Us

Office of Admissions
University of Maine at Farmington
246 Main Street
Farmington, Maine USA 04938-1994
tel  207-778-7050
fax  207-778-8182
TYY (via Maine Relay Service) dial 711
umfadmit@maine.edu