Internships

Geology Internships

The following list provides examples of the types of internships geology students pursue as part of their undergraduate coursework. Internship experiences typically have strong influence in shaping post-graduate decisions and greatly enhance a student's resume.

Wheaton College Sponsored Research Internships

Geology majors may apply for a Wheaton College summer researcher grant to collaborate in a faculty research project. The grant includes a stipend and free campus housing for ten weeks during the summer. Alternatively, students with this grant have traveled abroad with their professor to complete a project.

Recent examples of student-faculty collaborative research with the summer grant include geological and geophysical projects with Wheaton College Biblical Archaeology expeditions to Israel, development of new groundwater monitoring techniques, studies of sea level change using satellite imagery, surveying natural resources and waste disposal practices in developing nations of Eastern Europe and Africa, mapping agricultural irrigation practices and crop yields, and glacial and post-glacial stratigraphy of a mastodon discovery site.

Some project summaries are reported here.

Off-Campus Research Internships

Geology majors have successfully secured summer research internships at other universities and institutions. Many federally funded research grants to university faculty require the engagement of undergraduates who are invited to apply from accredited schools like Wheaton College (known as Research Experiences for Undergraduates, REU). Recently our students have spent summers at Johns Hopkins University, University of Minnesota, New York City Museum of Natural History, University of Nebraska, regional offices of the United States Geological Survey, and National Parks.

Some project summaries are reported here.

Go here for a link to off-campus internship, research, and field work opportunities. 

International HNGR Internships

Wheaton's Human Needs and Global Resources program is available to selected students who prepare for and complete a six-month internship in developing countries around the world providing hands-on training and experience while giving them opportunities to use their skills and knowledge in service to some of the world's poorest communities. Faculty advisors and sponsoring agencies help the student develop research or service projects which have included crop preservation in Bangladesh, erosion assessment and soil quality in Ghana, Honduras, and the Philippines, effects of deforestation on water resources at a national park in Honduras, water resource development and management in Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Nicaragua, and land-use analysis in Uganda and Zaire. Find more information on HNGR here.