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The Bachelor of Arts in Geology and Earth Science is specifically designed for undergraduates who wish to study Earth Sciences as a foundation for careers in a variety of areas, such as environmental law, natural resource business, land use planning, Earth science education, science journalism, and many government positions. The B.A. program includes a broad spectrum of courses and focuses both on information about the Earth, and on how society makes decisions that affect the Earth system.
Students must earn a letter grade of C or better in all geology and allied courses. Additionally, all prerequisite courses must be passed with a grade of C or better before progressing to the next level of geology courses.
| Required Courses | |||
| A. Each of the following of the following: | Credit Hours | USP | Taught |
| GEOL 1000-level introductory geology lab course(s) | 4–8 | SE | |
| GEOL 2000 Geochemical Cycles, Earth System | 4 | SE | Fall |
| GEOL 2100 Sedimentation and Stratigraphy | 4 | SE | Fall |
| GEOL 2080 or 3080 General Field Geology | 3 | SE | Fall |
| GEOL 4820 Capstone | 3 | WC | Spring |
| LIFE 1010 General Biology | 4 | SB | |
| CHEM 1020 General Chemistry I | 4 | SP | |
| PHYS 1110 General Physics I | 4 | SP | |
| MATH 1405 Trigonometry or MATH 1450 Algebra/Trig | 3–5 | QA | |
| B. 6 courses from the following list: | |||
| ATSC 2000 Meteorology or GEOG 3450 Weather and Climate | 4 or 3 | ||
| ECON 2400 Economics of the Environment | 3 | ||
| GEOG 3010 Landforms and Soils | 3 | ||
| GEOL 2005 Introduction to Geophysics | 4 | Spring | |
| GEOL 2050 Principles of Paleontology | 3 | Spring | |
| GEOL 2070 Introduction to Oceanography | 4 | Fall | |
| GEOL 3400 Geologic Hazards | 4 | SE | Spring |
| GEOL 3500 Global Change | 4 | ||
| GEOL 3600 Earth and Mineral Resources | 4 | SE,G | Fall |
| GEOL 3650 Energy: A Geological Perspective | 4 | SE,G | Spring |
| GEOL 4444 Geohydrology | 4 | ||
| GEOL 4490 Geochemistry | 3 | Spring | |
| GEOL 4610 Structural Geology and Tectonics | 4 | Fall | |
| GEOL 4835 Applied/Exploration Geophysics | 3 | Spring | |
| POLS 4051 Environmental Politics and Admin | 3 | WC | |
| SOIL 4120 Genesis, Morphology, Classification of Soils | 4 | Fall | |
| ECON 4400 Environmental Economics or ECON 4410 Natural Resource Economics | 3 | ||
| C. Additional 12 hours of electives with advisor consultation, at least 6 hours of which must be taken outside of the Department of Geology & Geophysics. | |||
