S enior geography major Chris Garrett is getting paid to map fire hydrants and water meters for the City of Gainesville Department of Water Resources this summer.
 
He’s geotagging water infrastructure, updating maps and helping the department conduct an Environmental Protection Agency study of Gainesville water pipes.

“If there’s a leak, something breaks or a sinkhole collapses, it’s easier to look on a map that’s updated and know everything that’s going on,” Garrett said. “It makes it easier to solve problems.”

Professor Dr. Chuck Fahrer’s introductory geography course impressed Garrett and put him on the path to geographic information systems. He’s using skills Fahrer and geography Professor Dr. Doug Oetter taught him to work with water department engineers and updating old water maps.

“Knowing how the water department works has been a real eye-opener,” Garrett said. “Seeing how big the system is and how complex it is has been really cool. The people in my internship have been great; they’re all very friendly, they work hard and they care about what they do.”

Set to graduate this August, Garrett intends to move to Satellite Beach, Florida, to join the Fellows Program out of Trinity Wellsprings Church and move into full-time ministry.

“Shout out to the geography department, because they did a great job of making my credits work and helping me graduate on time, even when I took a semester off,” Garrett said. “They all taught me really well and cared about my learning.”

“Georgia College as a whole was the best decision I could have made,” he said. “I don’t think any other university would have been as good for my development as a person—Georgia College, the people there especially and the culture of the university.”

 

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