Geology Major

For more information about the department, honors/high honors, transfer credit, etc., visit the geology department page.

Major Requirements

All majors must complete the following set of requirements:

All of the Following

300-level Geology Electives

Three courses from the following:

GEOL 301 - Igneous and Metamorpic Petrology and
GEOL 301L
GEOL 310 - Environmental Economic Geology
GEOL 311 - Environmental and Exploration Geophysics
GEOL 318 - Coastal Geology and
GEOL 318L
GEOL 320 - Techniques of Field Geology
GEOL 335 - Hydrology and Geomorphology and
GEOL 335L
Students are encouraged to consider taking a summer field course, such as GEOL 320 , as one of their elective courses, as field experience is generally expected for graduate work in geology and many employment opportunities.

400-level Geology Electives

Two from the following:

Two Additional Courses

Two full-credit courses in biology, chemistry, mathematics, or physics.

Capstone Experience

The two required 400-level courses provide a capstone experience for the geology major, as all such courses involve a significant project that integrates hypothesis testing, data collection and/or analysis of existing data, literature review, and a final project that synthesizes this work. A senior thesis conducted with a geology faculty member as an advisor through GEOL 441 may count as one of the required 400–level courses and is required for all geology honors candidates. Students can initiate a senior research project of interest by speaking directly to a faculty member about ideas for a research project or by consulting with a faculty member about a project that might arise from a summer internship, a summer employment experience, or be based on research initiated in a geology course. GEOL 491 may not count towards the 400–level course requirement.

GPA Requirement

A GPA of 2.00 in the major is necessary for graduation. The ten full-credit courses that carry the highest grade are used to compute this average. A passing grade must be received in all courses counted toward the major.