Environmental Geosciences

Geoscience is the study of the Earth, including its resources, fresh water, oceans, and atmosphere. As outlined by the American Geosciences Institute, geoscientists explore, study, and monitor the Earth to protect it and the people who live on it. They seek solutions to some of our most challenging problems:

• Finding adequate supplies of natural resources such as geothermal energy, fossil fuels, minerals, and water
• Developing natural resources in ways that safeguard the environment
• Maintaining the quality and sustainability of groundwater and surface water supplies
• Reducing human loss and suffering from natural hazards and disasters, such as floods and landslides
• Determining geologic controls on natural environments and habitats, and predicting the impact of humans
• Understanding global climate patterns and the history of global change through geologic time
• Understanding how naturally occurring elements and minerals behave in nature and how they affect our health
• Advising policy makers on scientific and environmental issues that affect society

All of our courses include field trips to study the geology of West Virginia and the surrounding Appalachians. Geoscience majors also take a 3-week summer field course in the Appalachians and Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  For more information, see Field Science Provides Unique Learning Opportunity published in the CU Alumni Magazine.  

Thanks to support from an NSF grant, all students in the program complete undergraduate research with the geoscience faculty. Our innovative research in structural geology, earthquake geology, volcanology, biogeography, and paleoclimate is funded by more than 2 million worth of grants that allow students to travel with us to local and remote field settings including Greenland, the Colorado Rockies, the Appalachians, and the Pacific Northwest. Other projects are available using our electron microprobe laboratory, micro-X-ray fluorescence laboratory, environmental geography laboratory, the R.T. Hill Spatial Analysis laboratory, sample preparation facilities, ground penetrating radar, and polarizing light microscopes. We can help defray the cost of college by offering an opportunity to earn income by working in the laboratory or in the field.  

Read the articles Arctic Travels and Volcanic Travels published in the CU Alumni Magazine and the article Leading Undergraduates to the Edge of Science published in The Neuron for more information about our undergraduate research opportunities.  

Scientists with geoscience degrees are in high demand. In 2019, the average salary for geoscientists was $92,000, which was $27,000 more than the national average for other science occupations according to the American Geosciences Institute. By 2025, the US will have a shortfall of more than 135,000 new geoscientists to fill projected needs, so the job outlook is very strong. More than 95% of our recent graduates have found professional jobs soon after graduating, if not before. Most find employment as environmental or technical professionals and geoscientists in government agencies, corporations, and consulting firms. 

GEOL 101 Earth Processes, Resources, and the Environment (every semester)
GEOL 140 Geology of WV and Appalachian Region (fall odd years)
GEOL 150 Oceanography (every semester)
GEOL 202 Evolution of Earth Systems (fall even years)
GEOL 205 Environmental Geology (spring odd years)
GEOL 210 Natural Disasters (irregular)
GEOL 212 Applied Meteorology (irregular)
GEOL 215 Field Studies (irregular)

GEOL 310 Soil, Water, and Land Use (fall odd years)
GEOL 312 Climatology (spring even years)
GEOL 315 Biogeography and Environmental Change (fall even years)
GEOL 365 Earth Materials and Minerals (spring odd years)
GEOL 375 Chemistry and Petrology of the Solid Earth (spring even years)
GEOL 380 Sedimentary Geology (fall even years)
GEOL 385 Structural Geology (fall odd years)
GEOL 404 Field Geology I (spring even years)
GEOL 405 Field Geology II (summer even years)
GEOL 415 Electron Imaging and X-ray Microanalysis (fall odd years)

GEOG 101 Humans and the Environment (every semester)
GEOG 200 Digital Earth (every semester)
GEOG 311 GIS and Cartography (spring even years)
GEOG 312 Public Health GIS (spring odd years)
GEOG 321 Cultural Anthropology (fall semester)
GEOG 411 GIS Design and Application (fall odd years)