The Geology concentration provides a comprehensive undergraduate education in geoscience, emphasizing a hands-on and field-oriented approach that is well-suited to professional careers in the energy, water, mining and other resources industries, government agencies, consulting, resource management, and the many other fields that employ geologists. The Geology concentration provides a strong general science background for other diverse careers, including primary and secondary school teaching, science writing, environmental and resource law, and resource and/or hazards specializations within the construction, insurance, land use, securities, and other industries. The Geology concentration additionally provides foundational preparation for graduate education in the many geosciences subdisciplines.
Effective Fall 2022
Freshman | |||
---|---|---|---|
AUCC | Credits | ||
CHEM 111 | General Chemistry I (GT-SC2) | 3A | 4 |
CHEM 112 | General Chemistry Lab I (GT-SC1) | 3A | 1 |
CO 150 | College Composition (GT-CO2) | 1A | 3 |
GEOL 1501 | Physical Geology for Scientists and Engineers | 3A | 4 |
GEOL 154 | Historical and Analytical Geology | 4 | |
MATH 124 | Logarithmic and Exponential Functions (GT-MA1) | 1B | 1 |
MATH 125 | Numerical Trigonometry (GT-MA1) | 1B | 1 |
MATH 126 | Analytic Trigonometry (GT-MA1) | 1B | 1 |
Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | ||
One Year Calculus IB (GT-MA1) | 1B | ||
Calculus for Physical Scientists I (GT-MA1) | 1B | ||
Arts and Humanities | 3B | 3 | |
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | 1C | 3 | |
Total Credits | 28-29 | ||
Sophomore | |||
CHEM 113 | General Chemistry II | 3 | |
CHEM 114 | General Chemistry Lab II | 1 | |
GEOL 232 | Mineralogy | 3 | |
GEOL 250 | The Solid Earth | 3 | |
GEOL 332 | Optical Mineralogy | 2 | |
GEOL 364 | Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology | 4B | 4 |
MATH 161 | Calculus for Physical Scientists II (GT-MA1) | 1B | 4 |
Select one course from the following: | 3 | ||
Writing Arguments (GT-CO3) | 2 | ||
Writing in the Disciplines: Sciences (GT-CO3) | 2 | ||
Strategic Writing and Communication (GT-CO3) | 2 | ||
Select one course from the following: | 5 | ||
General Physics I (GT-SC1) | 3A | ||
Physics for Scientists and Engineers I (GT-SC1) | 3A | ||
Social and Behavioral Sciences | 3C | 3 | |
Total Credits | 31 | ||
Junior | |||
GEOL 344 | Stratigraphy and Sedimentology | 4A | 4 |
GEOL 372 | Structural Geology | 4B | 4 |
GEOL 376 | Geologic Field Methods | 4A,4C | 3 |
Select one course from the following: | 4 | ||
Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources | |||
Intro. to Geographic Information Systems | |||
Select one course from the following: | 5 | ||
General Physics II (GT-SC1) | 3A | ||
Physics for Scientists and Engineers II (GT-SC1) | 3A | ||
Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | ||
Intro to Ordinary Differential Equations | |||
Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods | |||
Intro to Theory and Practice of Statistics | |||
Arts and Humanities | 3B | 3 | |
Historical Perspectives | 3D | 3 | |
Total Credits | 29-30 | ||
Summer | |||
GEOL 436 | Geology Summer Field Course | 4C | 6 |
Total Credits | 6 | ||
Senior | |||
GEOL 366 | Sedimentary Petrology and Geochemistry | 4A,4B | 4 |
GEOL 454 | Geomorphology | 4 | |
Geology Electives3 | 7 | ||
Select 3 credits from Technical Elective Department List | 3 | ||
Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry | |||
Fundamentals of Inorganic Chemistry | |||
Introduction to Analytical Chemistry | |||
Modern Organic Chemistry I | |||
Foundations of Physical Chemistry | |||
Physical Chemistry I | |||
Basic Hydrology | |||
Nonpoint Source Pollution | |||
Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation | |||
Calculus for Physical Scientists III | |||
Intro to Ordinary Differential Equations | |||
Linear Algebra I | |||
Biological Diversity | |||
Intro. to Geographic Information Systems | |||
GIS Applications in Natural Resource Management | |||
Introduction to Modern Physics | |||
Physical Thermodynamics | |||
Pedology | |||
Microbiomes of Soil Systems | |||
Soil Physics | |||
Intro to Theory and Practice of Statistics | |||
Seasonal Snow Environments | |||
Environmental Organic Chemistry | |||
Programming for GIS I | |||
Programming for GIS II | |||
Remote Sensing and Image Analysis | |||
Land Use Hydrology | |||
Land Use and Water Quality | |||
Electives5 | 6-8 | ||
Total Credits | 24-26 | ||
Program Total Credits: | 120 |
- 1
GEOL 120, GEOL 122 or GEOL 124 in combination with GEOL 121 may be substituted for GEOL 150.
- 2
MATH 160 is recommended.
- 3
Select at least two upper-division regular or experimental GEOL courses (300-381, 402-481, 500-581) for a minimum of five credits. A maximum of two credits may be satisfied by non-regular courses (courses ending in -82 to -99) and GEOL 401, which may only count once.
- 4
STAT 315 can be used to fulfill technical elective requirement if not taken for statistics requirement in junior year.
- 5
Select enough elective credits to bring the program total to a minimum of 120 credits, of which at least 42 must be upper-division (300- to 400-level).
Freshman | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Semester 1 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
CO 150 | College Composition (GT-CO2) | 1A | 3 | ||
GEOL 150 | Physical Geology for Scientists and Engineers | X | 3A | 4 | |
MATH 124 | Logarithmic and Exponential Functions (GT-MA1) | X | 1B | 1 | |
MATH 125 | Numerical Trigonometry (GT-MA1) | X | 1B | 1 | |
MATH 126 | Analytic Trigonometry (GT-MA1) | X | 1B | 1 | |
Arts and Humanities | 3B | 3 | |||
Total Credits | 13 | ||||
Semester 2 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
CHEM 111 | General Chemistry I (GT-SC2) | X | 3A | 4 | |
CHEM 112 | General Chemistry Lab I (GT-SC1) | X | 3A | 1 | |
GEOL 154 | Historical and Analytical Geology | X | 4 | ||
Select one course from the following: | X | 3-4 | |||
One Year Calculus IB (GT-MA1) | 1B | ||||
Calculus for Physical Scientists I (GT-MA1) | 1B | ||||
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | 1C | 3 | |||
CO 150 and MATH 126 must be completed by the end of Semester 2. | |||||
Total Credits | 15-16 | ||||
Sophomore | |||||
Semester 3 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
CHEM 113 | General Chemistry II | 3 | |||
CHEM 114 | General Chemistry Lab II | 1 | |||
GEOL 232 | Mineralogy | X | 3 | ||
GEOL 332 | Optical Mineralogy | X | 2 | ||
Select one course from the following: | X | 5 | |||
General Physics I (GT-SC1) | 3A | ||||
Physics for Scientists and Engineers I (GT-SC1) | 3A | ||||
Social and Behavioral Sciences | 3C | 3 | |||
Total Credits | 17 | ||||
Semester 4 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
GEOL 250 | The Solid Earth | X | 3 | ||
GEOL 364 | Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology | X | 4B | 4 | |
MATH 161 | Calculus for Physical Scientists II (GT-MA1) | X | 1B | 4 | |
Select one course from the following: | 3 | ||||
Writing Arguments (GT-CO3) | 2 | ||||
Writing in the Disciplines: Sciences (GT-CO3) | 2 | ||||
Strategic Writing and Communication (GT-CO3) | 2 | ||||
Total Credits | 14 | ||||
Junior | |||||
Semester 5 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
GEOL 344 | Stratigraphy and Sedimentology | X | 4A | 4 | |
Select one course from the following: | X | 5 | |||
General Physics II (GT-SC1) | X | 3A | |||
Physics for Scientists and Engineers II (GT-SC1) | 3A | ||||
Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | ||||
Intro to Ordinary Differential Equations | |||||
Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods | |||||
Intro to Theory and Practice of Statistics | |||||
Arts and Humanities | 3B | 3 | |||
Total Credits | 15-16 | ||||
Semester 6 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
GEOL 372 | Structural Geology | X | 4B | 4 | |
GEOL 376 | Geologic Field Methods | X | 4A,4C | 3 | |
Select one course from the following: | 4 | ||||
Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources | |||||
Intro. to Geographic Information Systems | |||||
Historical Perspectives | 3D | 3 | |||
CHEM 113 must be completed by the end of Semester 6. | X | ||||
Total Credits | 14 | ||||
Semester 7 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
GEOL 436 | Geology Summer Field Course | X | 4C | 6 | |
Total Credits | 6 | ||||
Senior | |||||
Semester 8 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
GEOL 366 | Sedimentary Petrology and Geochemistry | X | 4A,4B | 4 | |
Geology Electives | 4 | ||||
Elective | 1 | ||||
Technical Elective (See Department List on Concentration Requirements tab) | 3 | ||||
STAT 301 or STAT 315 or MATH 340 must be completed by the end of Semester 8. | X | ||||
Total Credits | 12 | ||||
Semester 9 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
GEOL 454 | Geomorphology | X | 4 | ||
Geology Elective | X | 3 | |||
Electives | X | 5-7 | |||
The benchmark courses for the 9th semester are the remaining courses in the entire program of study. | X | ||||
Total Credits | 12-14 | ||||
Program Total Credits: | 120 |