What You'll Learn
At Calvin, the earth is your classroom. Explore the earth and its people with hands-on learning and field trips. You’ll also have opportunities to travel abroad, research with faculty, and apply for internships. As a geography major, you'll investigate physical and cultural landscapes and understand their interactions in the context of a Christian world view.
You'll learn from faculty who are committed Christians and experts in their fields. They'll work alongside you to support your academic and career goals.
What Makes This Program Great
- Professional-grade facilities: You'll have access to a huge collection of minerals, rocks, and fossils, as well as a vast collection of maps, a dedicated geo-spatial analysis lab, drones, an on-campus research sand dune, a seismograph, a weather station, and more.
- Real-world research opportunities: As a GEO student, you'll have the chance to do research with your professors during the academic year and summer. Calvin GEO students have done research into Lake Michigan coastal dunes, a Pleistocene mastadon, the Plaster Creek watershed, and more.
- Practical job experience: The GEO department hires more students than any other department. Students are hired yearly for a wide variety of positions, from managing a map library to maintaining the university weather station.
- Study off-campus: Calvin GEO students study off-campus in places as diverse as Montana, Hawaii, Kenya, Scotland, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, and Yosemite National Park.
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Faculty
Jason E. VanHorn
Professor, Director of Master of Science in GIScience Program
Professor VanHorn joined the GEO department at Calvin College in 2007 and has been recognized for his contributions to the field of geography through publication, research with undergraduate students,
Johnathan Bascom
Professor, Department Interim Chair
Professor Bascom has taught at East African universities for 3 years on 4 occasions – University of Asmara (1997-98, 2005) and Bahir Dar University (2011-12, 2013), and been a visiting Research Fellow
Deanna van Dijk
Professor
Post-doc, Sackville, New Brunswick in a salt marsh on the Bay of Fundy, 1998 (short but memorable)Joined the GEO department at Calvin College, 1999
Mark D Bjelland
Professor, Department Chair
Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, Gustavus Adolphus CollegeChair, City Planning Commission, Saint Peter, MNEngineering Project Manager, Golder Associates, Burnaby, B.C.Environmental