Geology, B.A.

Requirements for Major in Geology

The geology major is designed both for the student who plans to pursue graduate studies in some aspect of geology or become a professional geologist, and for the student who has professional aspirations outside of geology.

Nine units in geology, including; a field work experience; participation in all departmental colloquia during the junior and senior years; two cognate courses.

Introductory Geology Courses

Two courses from the following list, at least one of which must be GEOL 101 or 103.

GEOL 101: Introductory Geology (1 Unit)
GEOL 103: Introduction to Earth History (1 Unit)
GEOL 104: Earth Resources and the Environment (1 Unit)
GEOL 106: Natural Disasters (1 Unit)
GEOL 115: Oceans, Atmosphere and Climate (1 Unit)

Required Advanced Geology Courses:

GEOL 201: Structural Geology (1 Unit)
GEOL 203: Mineralogy (1 Unit)
GEOL 205: Sedimentation and Stratigraphy (1 Unit)
GEOL 208: Geomorphology (1 Unit)

Additional Requirements

At least three additional units of geology at the 200-level or higher, at least one of which must be at the 300-level (one unit from GEOL 314 may be counted toward this requirement). All majors are required to complete a departmentally-approved independent research project, and are encouraged to complete a senior college or departmental honors thesis.

Two Cognate Courses Including:

CHEM 152: Principles of Chemistry (1 Unit)

And Another Chosen From:

BIOL 195: Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity (1 Unit)
CHEM 214: Inorganic Chemistry (1 Unit)
MATH 141: Calculus of a Single Variable I (1 Unit)
MATH 143: Calculus of a Single Variable II (1 Unit)
MATH 209: An Introduction to Statistics (1 Unit)
PHYS 115: General Physics (1 Unit)
PHYS 116: General Physics (1 Unit)
PHYS 167: Analytical Physics I (1 Unit)
PHYS 168: Analytical Physics II (1 Unit)
We encourage all students to take more cognate courses, and students intending to enter graduate school should be aware that many graduate programs require at least two units each of chemistry, calculus and physics. Students with specific interests in geology may want to pursue completing appropriate minors in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry or biology.

Requirements for All Students Majoring in Geology or Earth Science

All students completing a major in geology or earth science must satisfy a field work requirement equivalent to one unit of study. This requirement may be fulfilled by summer research, internship or work experiences, academic year directed studies, completion of GEOL 210 or GEOL 314 , other suitable field experiences approved by the faculty (such as field trips sponsored by GSA), or some combination of the above.
- After completing three or four geology courses or at the end of their junior year, geology majors planning graduate study and/or a professional geology career are urged to attend either the Albion summer field camp in the Rocky Mountains or a similar summer geology field course offered by another college or university. This experience is required by most graduate schools before entering a graduate program and is required by many industries and institutions employing geologists.
A maximum of one geographic information systems course (GEOL 111 , GEOL 211 or GEOL 311 ) may be counted toward the major.
Departmental Colloquia: All geology and earth science majors are required to attend departmental colloquia regularly and to participate once each semester for four semesters.
The geology units and the required cognate courses must be taken for a numerical grade. Students considering a geology major are urged to complete the cognate units as early as possible in their Albion career.