The need for GIS courses that include advanced GIS concepts as well as address the special requirements of a discipline is rapidly growing. The goal of this paper is to describe a course developed at the University of Arizona for hydrologists and other earth scientists. A series of assignments has been developed on important topics such as interpolation of environmental data, creation and use of DEMs, linkage of GIS to hydrologic and erosion models, watershed assessment, and effects of database resolution. The paper will review the course content, philosology, and direction. Examples of assignments using ARC/INFO will be provided.