Student ID:__________________________ Student Name:_______________________ Adviser Name:_______________________ Catalog: Academic Catalog 2022-2023 Program: Geosciences, B.S. Minimum Credits Required:__________________

Geosciences, B.S.

Requirements for the Major:

A minimum of eleven courses in the department including:

Course NameTerm TakenGradeGen Ed

Choose an introductory offering (1):

ENS 100 - Introduction to Environmental Studies
GEO 106 - Introduction to Oceanography
GEO 109 - Geologic Perspectives on Global Warming
GEO 110 - Physical Geology
GEO 112 - Environmental Geology
GEO 117 - Natural Disasters
GEO 160 - Environmental Challenges in the Mohawk Watershed

Required core courses (7):

GEO 120 - The Story of Earth and Life
GEO 201 - Stratigraphy and Depositional Environments of New York
GEO 202 - Geomorphology
GEO 220 - Mineral Science
GEO 307 - Structural Geology
GEO 320 - Petrology of Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks
GEO 405 - Geosciences Senior Seminar

 

Senior Writing (WS) Requirement (1):  (Choose one option below)

 

One-Term Option:

GEO 498 - Geosciences Research and Writing

 

Two-Term Option:

GEO 495 - Geosciences Thesis Research 1
GEO 496 - Geosciences Thesis Research 2

 

Required electives (4):

In addition to the required courses, students must take four electives from the Geosciences or other approved science courses. Two courses must be Geoscience courses (GEO>200), and two additional courses may be either GEO (<200) courses or closely aligned courses from other sciences.  Depending on interest and potential career path, students may choose to pursue either the Dynamic Earth or Environmental Geoscience Track.

Dynamic Earth Geosciences Track

Course NameTerm TakenGradeGen Ed
GEO 205 - Active Tectonics
GEO 206 - Volcanology
GEO 208 - Paleontology, Paleobiology, and Paleoecology
GEO 210 - Groundwater Hydrology
GEO 302 - Geochemical Systems and Modeling
GEO 303 - Earthquakes and the study of the Earth’s Interior

Environmental Geosciences Track

Course NameTerm TakenGradeGen Ed
GEO 203 - Lakes and Environmental Change
GEO 207 - Stable Isotopes in Environmental Science
GEO 209 - Paleoclimatology
GEO 210 - Groundwater Hydrology
GEO 300 - Glacial and Quaternary Geology
GEO 305 - Global Biogeochemical Cycles
GEO 302 - Geochemical Systems and Modeling

Additional Electives (2) - take two from the list below

Course NameTerm TakenGradeGen Ed
ENS 204 - Geographic Information Systems
ENS 215 - Exploring Environmental Data
BIO 320 - Ecology
AST 150 - (105) Introduction to Planetary Science
CHM 231 - Organic Chemistry 1
CHM 240 - Analytical Chemistry

Of these, no more than one may be at the 100-level. Additional courses may be approved at the discretion of the department chair.

Also required are six terms of cognate courses in the following areas. *GEO courses taken to fulfill cognates cannot also count as electives in the major.

Data Analysis, Programming, Statistics and Mathematics (2)

Any two courses numbered 100 or higher, or equivalent such as:

Course NameTerm TakenGradeGen Ed
ENS 215 - Exploring Environmental Data
CSC 103 - Taming Big Data: Introduction to Computer Science
CSC 104 - Robots Rule! Introduction to Computer Science
CSC 105 - Game Development: Introduction to Computer Science
CSC 106 - Can Computers Think? Introduction to Computer Science
CSC 107 - Creative Computing: Introduction to Computer Science
CSC 108 - Scientific Computing: Introduction to Computer Science
STA 164 - Strategies of Experimentation: Statistical Design and Analysis of Experiments
STA 264 - Regression Analysis
PSY 200 - Statistical Methods in Psychology
MTH 105 - Differential Calculus with Precalculus
MTH 110 - Calculus 1: Differential Calculus
MTH 112 - Calculus 2: Integral Calculus
MTH 113 - Accelerated Single-Variable Calculus
MTH 115 - Calculus 3: Differential Vector Calculus and Matrix Theory

Chemistry (2)

 The following is required,

Course NameTerm TakenGradeGen Ed
CHM 101 - Introductory Chemistry 1

And one of the following:

CHM 102 - Introductory Chemistry 2
GEO 207 - Stable Isotopes in Environmental Science
GEO 305 - Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Biology or Physics (2)

Two of the following courses are required (limit one GEO/BIO) course):

Note: Advanced work or a minor is encouraged in chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, economics, or engineering.

 

Course NameTerm TakenGradeGen Ed

Any BIO or PHY courses numbered 100 or higher.

GEO 208 - Paleontology, Paleobiology, and Paleoecology
GEO 303 - Earthquakes and the study of the Earth’s Interior
GEO 305 - Global Biogeochemical Cycles

All Geosciences courses at the 100 level are introductory and have no prerequisites. All serve as an entry point to the major. Preference will be given to first and second year students

Additional Requirements

Senior Geosciences majors may not take any introductory course for major credit. A senior thesis is required, and theses may either be 1 term (GEO 498) or 2-3 terms (GEO 495, GEO 496, GEO 497). Completion of a two-term senior thesis (GEO 495 and GEO 496) is required for honors, and only one senior level research credit may count toward the two geosciences electives. Students who intend on going to graduate school are strongly encouraged to do a research thesis and to take two courses in physics rather than biology, unless specifically interested in paleontology or geobiology, because most graduate programs require physics. A summer field course in the junior year is strongly recommended, particularly for those going on to graduate school or geological consulting work.

Notes: