Graduate Degree Program

Geosciences (M.S.)

The Department of Geography and Geology offer the Master of Science degree in Geosciences. The M.S. degree program is designed to provide students with a broad background in geology and geography, including geotechniques, plus more in-depth knowledge of at least one sub-discipline of geoscience through concentrated thesis research or literature review. The program emphasizes solution of geoscience problems through combined library research, field studies and laboratory applications. The Department of Geography and Geology cooperates with the other natural science departments and the College of Education in offering the Master of Arts in Education with an option in Earth Science. Regulations for this degree can be found in the College of Education webpages.

Admission – The Department of Geography and Geology adheres to the requirements for general admission to graduate degree study as described in the General Academic Information Section of this Catalog. Minimum GRE score: for test taken before October 1, 2002: combined verbal, quantitative, and analytical test score of 1000: for test taken after October 1, 2002: combined verbal and quantitative total score of 670. Prospective graduate assistants should forward three letters of recommendation directly to the Department of Earth Sciences.

Prerequisites – Applicants who have an adequate undergraduate background in geosciences (earth materials, earth processes, and geotechniques) and supporting sciences qualify for clear admission into the M.S. degree program. Applicants are considered to have an adequate background in earth materials if they have successfully completed an upper-division undergraduate class in petrology; otherwise, the student will be required to enroll in GLY 703 in addition to program requirements. Applicants are considered to have an adequate background in earth processes if they have successfully completed an upper-division undergraduate class in one of several earth processes (e.g., stratigraphy and sedimentation, structural geology and tectonics, geomorphology, hydrology, biogeography, or meteorology and climatology); otherwise, the student will be required to enroll in GLY 704 or an appropriate upper-division undergraduate class in addition to program requirements. Applicants are considered to have an adequate background in geotechniques if they have successfully completed an upper-division undergraduate class in Geographic Information Systems (GIS); otherwise, the student will be required to enroll in GEO 353 in addition to program requirements. They may also be required to remediate designated deficiencies in undergraduate support areas: at least one semester of introductory bioscience, one semester of introductory chemistry or geochemistry, one semester of trigonometry or higher, and one semester of “conceptual physics” or higher. It is expected that the applicant will have had at least some intensive field experience, which can be demonstrated by either successful completion of 6 credit hours of undergraduate field experience (e.g., Field Methods, Geology Field Camp) or appropriate work experience. Students that lack this background will be required to enroll in at least one 3 credit-hour graduate-level field course approved by the Graduate Program Committee as part of their program plus one 3 credit-hour undergraduate-level field methods course in addition to program requirements. If the student lacks 6 credit hours of intensive field class, but has had 3 credit hours of a field experience course equivalent to GLY 351, then they will be expected to enroll in at least one 3 credit-hour graduate-level field course as part of their program.

Candidacy – In order to qualify for admission to candidacy for the M.S. degree program, the student must have: (1) achieved clear admission; (2) completed all deficiencies as designated; (3) achieved a 3.0 grade point average for all graduate course work.

Thesis and Non-Thesis-Options – Students in the M.S. degree program must either complete a research thesis or a comprehensive literature review of a current problem in geology. The student chooses the topic of the thesis or of the literature review in consultation with his/her permanent committee.

Comprehensive Examination – An oral examination in defense of the thesis or of the literature review, together with related course work, is required.

Required Core (9 hours)

• GLY 802 Scientific Communication in Geosciences,
• GLY 803 Graduate Seminar,
• GLY 804 Research Methods in Geosciences, and
• GEO 753 Advanced GIS, GEO 756 Advanced Geographic Imagery, or equivalent,

Electives (15 hours)
Graduate-level GLY and GEO courses selected with prior approval of student’s advisor; may include relevant offerings of other departments.

Thesis (6 hours)
GLY 899 (credit will not be given for GLY 890 in this option.)

Non Thesis (12 hours)

• GLY 890 Literature Review
• Nine additional elective hours of graduate course work

Total Course Requirements, 30-36 hours (not including any remediation; see "Prerequisites" above)