Geology Degree Requirements

Required 120 credits (36 of which must be numbered 300 or above) including:

I. Essential Studies requirements (see University ES listing).

II. Geology required courses 

III. Program Required Electives 

IV. Requirements outside of the College of Engineering and Mines 

¹

Geology Field Experience credits must be pre-approved by the department and may be satisfied by successfully completing a total of 3 credits including, but not limited to: approved professional field camps, GEOL 491, GEOE 397, and internships

²

Other courses may be petitioned by student and approved by the advisor that cater to the student's interest and career plans. 

³

Students must ensure all appropriate pre-requisites are met prior to registering for all courses in the curriculum. 

Concentration in Petroleum Geology

Geology is a critically important discipline in the exploration for and extraction of petroleum. These activities require skills in visualizing and understanding the sedimentary rocks especially those in the subsurface. The range of typical applications is wide and the methods used are diverse. Expertise provided by this concentration include aspects of sedimentary geology, stratigraphy, structural geology and geophysics. This expertise is highly sought after by industries and government agencies that find and produce the oil that fuels today’s economies. Furthermore, it has become equally important to train replacements for an aging workforce in this important technological area. The concentration in Petroleum Geology is designed to prepare students for careers as petroleum geologists.  

Students must complete a minimum of 16 credits from the following list:

Concentration in Water Resources

Freshwater is a vital resource for economic growth, global ecosystems and well-being of human lives. Recently water resources are also severely under pressure across the world due to substantial population growth and migration, climate and land-use changes, and anthropogenic pollutions. Water security and quality are increasingly also recognized as a critical national security priority. Moreover, water management is becoming increasingly complex and complicated, demanding a thorough and sound understanding of hydrologic and hydrogeologic processes and their vulnerabilities to climate, land-use changes and anthropogenic usages. These interactions require the skills in visualizing and understanding water and contaminant transport through subsurface rocks (sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic) and surface waterways. The range of typical applications is wide and the methods used are diverse. Expertise provided by this concentration includes aspects of hydrogeology, groundwater contamination and remediation, water quality and lab analyses and cold region hydrology. This expertise is highly sought after by industries and government agencies that deal with critical water resources and environmental problems. Furthermore, it has become equally important to train replacements for an aging workforce in this important technological area. The concentration in Water Resources is designed to prepare students for careers such as hydrogeologist, hydrologist, environmental geologist and environmental engineer.  

Students must complete a minimum of 16 credits from the following list:

Teacher Certification

Students seeking secondary teacher certification in Geology must complete the Department of Teaching and Learning Requirements in Secondary Education. Students seeking certification should follow the curriculum for the B.S. in Geology and select Statistics (PSYC 241 Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, MATH 321 Applied Statistical Methods) rather than MATH 265 Calculus III or Computer Science. The 24 additional hours in science, computer science, statistics, engineering, mathematics, or a worldlanguage must include each of the following: at least one course in Biology with lab equaling 4 credits, Atmospheric Sciences, and Astronomy.

Geology majors seeking secondary certification must have an adviser both in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering and in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Formal admission to Teacher Education is required and is normally sought while the student is enrolled in T&L 250 Introduction to Education (see Department of Teaching and Learning listing).