The Graduate Experience

Excellence in graduate student mentoring is a key goal of our department. Our graduate program is research-focused and thus has few required courses. Instead, your program is custom-designed between you, your major professor and your advisory committee. The emphasis is on the one-on-one interaction with your advisor(s) as you develop the skills to be a research scientist. You will be taught the laboratory and field methodologies for data collection, with research localities ranging from the mountains and lakes of Wyoming to the volcanoes of Africa, the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica and the ocean basins (see map). You will discover how to analyze your data and, perhaps most importantly, learn how to convey your discoveries through written and oral presentations. We offer numerous opportunities to promote efficient scientific research and enhance your employment prospects, many of which are unique to the geosciences.