Special Opportunities

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

Department Resources

The Department of Geography and GIS 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 geography and geosciences students.

ESRI’s ArcGIS Desktop

This is the industry’s standard software for cartography (mapmaking) and GIS (Geographic Information Systems). You’ll use high-resolution digital aerial images at the ArcInfo level and all extensions to accurately map and analyze environmental, economic, and social problems, served via a dedicated server.

Internships and 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 a 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:

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 GEO 390 Geography and Geosciences Cultural Study and Off-campus Experience, an interdisciplinary experience for students in many areas of study. Recent locations include Jamaica, Hawai’i and Australia.

Student Organizations

Elmhurst sponsors three student organizations for students of geography and geosciences. The Elmhurst University Geographical Society (EUGS) and Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU, open to all geography students, coordinate field trips, social activities and luncheons. GTU, the international geography honorary society, is open to students who have achieved excellence as scholars or leaders in the field. Additionally, the University established the Alpha Chapter of the Illinois GIS Association (ILGISA).