Geography Blog

Save the Date: MUGS, April 23, 2022 – Hosted by the Geography Department at Gustavus Adolphus College

The Geography Department at Gustavus Adolphus College welcomes students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the college to attend the 2022 Minnesota Undergraduate Geography Symposium (MUGS) on Saturday, April 23 at the renovated Nobel Hall of Science. This great event seeks to celebrate the creative work of geography students across the region. Papers, posters, and […]

“Why Geography” Series Presents: Kendra Held ’22

1. Why did you choose to major in Geography? Overall I would say that I stumbled into geography classes by chance as an undecided first year student and each semester since then I have increasingly identified with the geography major and community. I had such a diverse array of interests coming into college and I’m […]

“Why Geography” Series Presents: Luke Zaruba ’21

1. Why did you choose to major in Geography? When I came to Gustavus, I had no intention of becoming a geography major and had no idea what it could even be useful for. During my second semester, I took World Geography and instantly knew that geography was something that I was interested in and […]

“Why Geography” Series Presents: Alicia Johnson ’21

1. Why did you choose to major in Geography? Geography was an easy major to pick because the department and all it’s courses encompass, in my opinion, the most interesting things one can study. It’s a blend of natural sciences and human sciences and what we learn and how we learn are arguably parts of […]

“Why Geography” Series Presents: Emily Schneider ’21

1. Why did you choose to major in Geography? I was in my sophomore year, and I was finishing up taking the rest of my gen-eds, and I hadn’t found anything I was remotely interested in. Then, I took World Geography with Jesse McClelland, and I knew that geography was for me! I love the […]

“Why Geography” Series Presents: James Miller ’21

1. Why did you choose to major in Geography? I chose to major in geography almost immediately after taking Environment and Society which was my first class in the department. I really value the social-scientific, justice oriented approach that geography offers, and I was interested in learning more about human-environment interactions. 2. To what extent […]

“Why Geography” Series Presents: Kristie Olson ’21

1.Why did you choose to major in Geography? Coming to college I knew two things, I wanted to help people from a structural level and that I enjoyed science, but I was not good at biology/chem/physics. I knew I was passionate about the environment and people, but that was about it. So, I took some […]

“Why Geography” Series Presents: Grace Tobin ’21

1. Why did you choose to major in Geography? I chose to major in Geography because it was exactly the field I’ve been looking for my whole life. After just two weeks of my first two classes in the department, Energy and Urban Geography, I knew that this was what I wanted to study. I’ve […]

Quincy Yangh (’21): Working for equal access to justice

Geography major Tori Franciosi (’21) interviewed Quincy Yangh (’21) about his fall 2019 internship with iProbono, an NGO in New Delhi, India. The internship was part of a one-month Independent Study Period of the School for International Training (SIT)’s Nepal and India: Tibetan and Himalayan Peoples study away program. Please describe the internship you participated […]

James Miller: GIS for recycling and waste disposal

We regularly feature geography related student internships on this blog. Today we hear from James Miller (‘21), a double major in Geography and Biology, who participated in a GIS internship for Nicollet County, MN, this summer.  Describe the internship you participated in this summer. I spent ten hours a week working with Nicollet County Property […]