The Department of Geology offers programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. On a full time basis, the M.S. normally requires two to three years of work, which includes courses, the completion of an M.S. research thesis, and an oral defense of the thesis. On a full time basis, the Ph.D. commonly requires three to four years of work, if conducted after the completion of an M.S. program, or four to five years from the time of admission if pursued directly from the Bachelor level. The Ph.D. program normally includes course work, a qualifying examination and proposal defense, a dissertation, and an oral defense and examination of the dissertation. Our students are required to engage in independent and original research under a mentoring program that promotes creative thinking. This is most commonly achieved via the collaboration between students and faculty in ongoing research programs. Geology is concerned with the Earth, its origin and evolution and the origin of life, and the processes by which Earth's atmosphere, surface and interior have been and continue to be modified. To pursue these topics we have developed research strengths in four themes: Geochemistry, which involves investigations of low- to high-temperature processes operating from Earth's surface to it's core and within the Solar System, Solid Earth Science, which is the study of the minerals, rocks, and structures that constitute Earth, and the tectonic and other processes by which they are formed and altered, Surficial Processes and Environments, which involves the study of active and past fluxes (and reservoirs) of water, dissolved components, and sediment on Earth's surface and the interactions of these fluxes with the biosphere and atmosphere, and, Geophysics, which includes investigations of Earth's interior structure and dynamics, as well as planetary physics. These areas are not mutually exclusive, and students are encouraged to develop a program that suits their interests. Developing areas within the Department include planetary geology and forensics.
