[ Geography & Geosciences ]

Special Features

Elmhurst’s Department of Geography & Geosciences offers plenty of opportunities to stretch your wings—and a lot of cool tools as well.

Cool Tools
Internships & Assistantships
Study Abroad
Student Organizations

Cool Tools
The Department of Geography & Geosciences is housed in Daniels Hall, a modern facility equipped with labs, wireless classrooms, computers, and a state-of-the-art weather station. Students use the equipment for class projects and independent study. A quick overview:

• Daniels Hall 306—Between classes, this is your home away from home, a multipurpose student computer lab, study room, student lounge where you can check your email, study, and socialize. It’s a special place set aside exclusively for our majors.
• ESRI’s ArcGIS 9.x—This is the industry’s standard software for cartography (mapmaking) and GIS (Geographic Information Systems). You’ll use high-resolution digital aerial images, along with ArcInfo 9.x and extensions to accurately map and analyze environmental, economic, and social problems. 
• Trimble GPS—You’ll use the GPS (Global Positioning System) in conjunction with Trimble’s Pathfinder Office to collect, edit, and upload geographic information into ArcGIS 9.x—making it possible to analyze any area you choose.

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Internships & Assistantships
We offer Student Laboratory Assistantships—a great way to earn some money while serving as a lab aide in our physical geography classes. The assistantship is particularly good experience for students who are planning to teach.

Further afield, we help students arrange internships with cartographers, local municipalities, research facilities, planning departments, and many more. Internships span a wide array of opportunities, from environmental sampling to analysis of GIS data. Some organizations where our students have completed internships:  

• Argonne National Laboratory
• DuPage County Development Commission
• Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
• UPS
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Village of Mt. Prospect

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Study Abroad
At Elmhurst, we encourage all students to participate in a study-abroad experience. It’s a great opportunity to immerse yourself in another culture, refine your language skills, challenge your cultural assumptions, and prepare yourself for life as a world citizen. One of our most popular study-abroad programs is “Beyond Tourism: Hawai'i's Cultural Traditions and their Geographic Influences” an interdisciplinary experience for students in many areas of study.

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Student Organizations
Elmhurst sponsors two student organizations for students of geography and geosciences. The Elmhurst College Geographical Society, which is open to all geography students, coordinates field trips, social activities, and luncheons. Gamma Theta Upsilon, the international geography honorary society is open to students who have achieved excellence as scholars or leaders in the field.

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