Program Requirements

General Program Requirements:
Number of Credits Required Beyond the Baccalaureate: 37, including 7 courses required in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, with one additional course taken outside of the department, if desired

Number of Credits Required Beyond the Master's: 18, including 3 courses required in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, with one additional course taken outside of the department, if desired

Required Courses:

Core Courses
Select courses from the following to total 28 credits: 128
·¡·¡³§Ìý5011
Remote Sensing and GIS
·¡·¡³§Ìý5042
Coastal Processes
·¡·¡³§Ìý5101
Structural Geology (Graduate)
·¡·¡³§Ìý5401
Analytical Methods in Mineralogy
·¡·¡³§Ìý5402
X-ray Crystallography
·¡·¡³§Ìý5406
Nanoscience and the Environment
·¡·¡³§Ìý5434
Ecohydrology
·¡·¡³§Ìý5454
Introduction to Geophysics
·¡·¡³§Ìý5461
Low-Temperature Geochemistry
·¡·¡³§Ìý5462
Advanced Low-Temperature Geochemistry
·¡·¡³§Ìý5502
Ice and Global Climate
·¡·¡³§Ìý5601
Vertebrate Paleontology and Taphonomy
·¡·¡³§Ìý5625
Electron Optical Techniques
·¡·¡³§Ìý5702
Sedimentary Petrology
·¡·¡³§Ìý5725
Soils and Paleosols
·¡·¡³§Ìý5801
Quantitative Structural Geo
·¡·¡³§Ìý5802
Tectonics
·¡·¡³§Ìý5811
Planetary Geology
·¡·¡³§Ìý8000
Geology Seminar
·¡·¡³§Ìý8200
Graduate Geology Seminar
·¡·¡³§Ìý8411
Advanced Hydrogeology
·¡·¡³§Ìý8421
Groundwater Modeling
Elective 23
Research Courses6
·¡·¡³§Ìý9994
Preliminary Examination Preparation
·¡·¡³§Ìý9998
Pre-Dissertation Research / Elevation to Candidacy
·¡·¡³§Ìý9999
Dissertation Research
Total Credit Hours37
1

Select three of the courses if entering the PhD program with a master's degree.

2

The elective is selected in consultation with an advisor.

Culminating Events:
Candidacy Assessment:
Qualifying for PhD candidacy includes completion of coursework within the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, as well as demonstrations of subject area knowledge, skill and the ability to conduct research to define and investigate new questions. The assessment for candidacy consists of four parts:

  1. Completion of a minimum of three departmental graduate courses in good standing
  2. Successfully passing the written and oral components of the Preliminary Examination
  3. Submission and acceptance of an NSF-style research proposal
  4. Oral defense of the research proposal

Dissertation:
The Department of Earth and Environmental Science requires an original research dissertation as the culminating project in its PhD program.