Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØ

Overview

The Geography internship program offers Geography majors and minors the opportunityÌýÌýto expand on their academic training through professional experience, gaining new practical skills and making contacts beyond Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder while earning credit towards a degree. In keeping with Geography’s breadth and interdisciplinary, students have interned with a wide range of organizations, ranging from advocacy groups and non-profits to government agencies and research institutes.

Eligibility

The Geography internship program is open to students who meet the following criteria:ÌýÌý

• Geography major, minor, or certificate (Distributed Studies Majors with a primary area in Geography are also eligible)
• Junior or Senior status
• GPA of 2.00 or higher

Interest Form

If you are interested in Geography Internship course credits, please complete our (Fall 2026). After you complete this form, you will be contacted by one of our Internship Coordinators (Taneesha Mohan or Sarah Schlosser) to begin the process of matching you and your skill sets with an appropriate organization or company for your internship. If you have identified a organization you would like to intern with, please complete the Internship Agreement (see below).

¸é±ð±ç³Ü¾±°ù±ð³¾±ð²Ô³Ù²õÌý

Once enrolled in GEOG 3930, interns are required to complete a minimum of 120 hours over the course of a semester (about 6-10 hours/week, includes the time accomplishing the deliverables listed below). To earn course credit, student interns must also complete the following deliverables:

• Attend two (2) class meetings organized by the Department Internship Coordinator, Taneesha Mohan.
• Give a 10-minute presentation summarizing their internship and addressing its relationship to Geography at the final class meeting for GEOG 3930; and,
• Submit a 1500-word paper reflecting on their experience.Ìý

Process

The department will assign the student a internship sponsor or students are welcome to secure an internship position on their own, though these positions must be approved by the Geography departmentÌýprior to the add/drop deadline. To receive approval for an internship site secured by the student, complete theÌý. Return the Internship Agreement form unsigned to Gabriela Sales (gabriela.sales@colorado.edu).Ìý

More Information

Join our Internship Email List by filling out .

For more information or help securing an internship site, please contact the Geography department at 303-492-2631,Ìýstop by GUGG 110, or contact one of the Department Internship Coordinators, Taneesha Mohan or Sarah Schlosser.

Quotes from Interns

"My experience on the India participatory development focused internship was extremely positive. I learnt lots about how development organizations operate, how to use participatory tools, and allowed me to better understand Indian culture. The experience has helped guide my idea of what type of career I would like to pursue. Working with the organizations reinforced and reinspired my interest working in the not for profit, development sector."Ìý

— Joseph Guilford, Intern at the Keystone Foundation, Summer 2026.

Ìý

"I had an amazing experience both times that I took the Geography Internship class. The first time, as a snow intern with Niwot LTER, stands out much more to me since that was a new experience that I did solely for the internship class, whereas the second time I took the course it was just an addition to the work that I was already doing.

It's safe to say that the internship with LTER shaped my career in many ways and got me my current job. My educational background is in computer science, but that semester I had some free space in my schedule, so I signed up for Snow Hydrology, and on the first day the professor mentioned that there was still a spot available for the snow internship. I decided to drop the other class I had on Fridays so that I could do the internship instead and have absolutely no regrets. I obviously loved getting to go backcountry skiing every Friday and apply what I was learning in my snow hydrology class to the pits we dug in the field.

During that time, I also started to realize that there are many career options where I could apply my computer science skills and knowledge to something like snow research. One of the days we were joined by a Geography PhD student, Emma Tyrrell, and I spent a while talking to her about the snow research she was doing. She mentioned that she would love to have a computer scientist in her lab to help with automating the snow model and improving the codebase, and a few months later she reached out to me to make that happen. After having spent a little over a year now working with Emma, I have had the opportunity to meet many of the great people in the snow modeling field at conferences and other events and want to make a career out of it.Ìý

The other part of the internship course that I really enjoyed was presenting a poster at the Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØHydroSciences Symposium. Being a student event, it was a very relaxed and supportive presentation environment, and a good first experience presenting my work. It was a good culmination to the semester, and I now have a poster that I can share with people to better explain the work that we did."

— Eric Gosnell, Intern at Niwot Ridge LTER, Spring 2025 and Spring 2026.

Ìý

"Doing my internship with the Colorado Native Plant Society through the geography department really helped me apply the GIS knowledge I have learned in my classes and Labs to the professional world. This opportunity helped me gain professional experience using my GIS skills, as well as realize how I want my professional career in GIS to evolve."

— Christian De Simone, Intern at the Colorado Native Plant Society, Spring 2026.

Ìý

"I had a great time participating in the Geography Internship (Spring 2026). I felt my responsibilities as an intern helped me apply what I had been learning in my GIS and Geography classes with real world applications and connect with members of the community on a higher level.Ìý

It helped my career path in the sense I now further understand the limitations for my specific degree and certifications."

— Carly Schwab, Intern at the Colorado Native Plant Society, Spring 2026.

During the Fieldwork in Social Justice & Development Internship we spent time engaging with NGOs, grassroots level organizations and local communities to better understand the culture, politics and development challenges of India. I was able to learn many skills in field research and analysis through studying well-being and livelihood, public health, and environmental justice for indigenous and marginalized community members. I learned so much more than I ever could've imagined during this internship. I'm so grateful I had this opportunity and cannot wait to use all of the new skills I've learned in my future experiences!

— Genevieve Fershee, Intern at the Keystone Foundation, Summer 2026.