Department of Geography

The department came into existence in 2019 and is part of Dr Nitya Nand Himalayan Research and Study Center. The Dr Nitya Nand Center is named after the renowned Himalayan Geographer Dr. Nitya Nand. He was head of Geography Department in D.B.S. (PG) College Dehradun from 1965 to 1985. His contribution in the field of Himalayan Geography is remarkable.

Currently our department offers MA/MSc course in Geography. New Post Graduate Diploma and Certificate level courses in Remote Sensing/GIS and Disaster Management are planned and will start from the coming academic session.

Vision of the Department

Dehradun is a city in the foothills of the Himalayas and is often considered to be the gateway to some of the highest mountains in the world. Because of the unique geographical location of the city, our department is focussing on research in Himalayan ecology, geography, and society. As part of our research, we have been interested in understanding the link between the unique topography of the Himalayas and the society that is living here. To achieve this, the department has set up the fol-lowing baseline vision:

1. The department seeks to establish an Integrated Himalayan Research Center that offers value based applied learning programmes in blended mode.
2. To establish cutting edge, state of the art Remote Sensing, GIS, Digital Cartographic, and post Disaster Management learning centre.
3. To promote action oriented proactive research focusing on challenging issues of regional, na-tional, and international relevance with special focus on Himalayan environment through inter-disciplinary and collaborative programmes.
4. To develop the department as a Center of Excellence offering stimulating, productive and out-come based teaching-learning environment.

Facilities

The department currently has a state of the art Cartographic Lab. The Lab contains instruments for surveying and also for setting up Meteorological Station. The proposed Meteorological Station will be an advanced centre for acquiring long term weather related data of Dehradun city. Apart from this, a state of the art GIS and Remote Sensing laboratory is also being developed in the depart-ment. The laboratory is expected to be completed and started before the next session.