Advising
Remote Advising
During this period of social distancing during the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020, all advising for the Department of Geography, Environment, and Society will be done remotely.
Advising will be available over Zoom, Google Meet or telephone. Zoom is the preferred medium for advising. For students who are not able to find a private place to conduct an advising appointment, advising can be done through Google Chat or on the phone. All U of M students have access to Zoom. For information on how to get access to Zoom, follow this link.
All advising will be by appointment. Appointments will be available most days The appointment calendar can be found at z.umn.edu/geogappts. If you cannot find and appointment time that works for you, please email geogadv@umn.edu and we will find a time that works for you.
Quick questions can be answered in email as usual. You may direct all email inquiries to geogadv@umn.edu.
To declare a Geography Major, GIS Minor, or Geography Minor, make an appointment with Ivan
To discuss capstones in BSE or Geography, make an appointment with Ivan
To dicuss career options, internship, research options, or for help thinking through how BSE or Geography will work for you, make an appointment with Ivan
To declare a BSE major, make an appointment with Catie or Ivan. (Please try Catie first).
To discuss courses for next semester for BSE, make an appointment with Catie or Ivan. (Please try Catie first).
Advising Calendar
We do not have walk in appointments at this time. Please see z.umn.edu/geogappts for available appointments.
- Urban Studies students should contact Paula Pentel for drop-ins or appointments (not listed on calendar)
- All other students should look for an advising period that is designated for their major or minor
Our GES Advising Team
We have a great team of advisors who specialize in one or more of our major and minor programs.
When contacting an advisor, please follow these guidelines to help us serve you as effectively as possible.
- Use your UMN email
- Include your student ID number in the email
- Write your major/minor program in the subject line

Dr. Ivan Bialostosky
Departmental Advisor
423 Social Sciences (West Bank)
612 625 0133
geogadv@umn.edu
Geography and GIS, Biology, Society, and Environment and Public Health students: Ivan has both walk-ins and appointments every week. See the calendar above for walk-ins. Schedule an appointment on Ivan's calendar. Please include your name and what you want to discuss in the description section.

Amy Lochli
BSE peer adviser

Catie Bohn
BSE peer adviser

Paula Pentel
Urban Studies Advisor & Co-Coordinator for Urban Studies
348 Social Sciences (West Bank)
612-626-1626
pent0006@umn.edu

Sophia Gilleland
Peer advisor for GEOG and GIS