The Department of Geography and Geology computer laboratories provide access to specialized state of the art computer equipment for the facilitation of map production and geographic analyses. There are two large teaching laboratories and two small laboratories for individual student use. Examples of products created by students and faculty in these facilities include contour maps, three-dimensional terrain surfaces, fly-over animations, vegetation change detection analysis of remotely sensed imagery, geologic and groundwater mapping, and socio-economic thematic maps. Students enrolled in relevant classes have 24/7 access to these facilities.
The University Map Center, located in Room B304 of the Science Building, is administrated by the Department of Geography/Geology and is open to use by the university community, as well as by the public. During the academic year the Map Center is open on a regular basis (a schedule is posted near the Map Center entrance).
The Map Center is a depository for maps and charts of the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA). The collection includes:
The Earth Materials Testing Laboratory supports equipment for classroom and research projects such as analyzing climate change through tree ring and lake bed sediment analysis, testing properties of earth materials such as texture and strength, flume studies, and analyzing relationships between stream flow and bed texture.
Field equipment is available for stream hydraulic analysis, lake sediment core analysis, sediment analysis, tree ring analysis, weather and climate studies, palynology, submeter GPS data collection, large scale urban mapping, surveying, land use analysis, geologic mapping, and photogrammetry.