Earth Science

Minor

How We Work

1. We know the tools of the trade. Geologists need to be experts at identification, so our earth science students get straight field work to learn mapping skills, sample collection, and the measurement of rock orientations with wood. And thanks to our small class sizes, professors can set up multiple labs to look at rocks and answer questions for as long as students want.
2. Our curriculum is locally sourced. From looking at erosion in Hope Cemetery to spoil banks at Green Oaks Biological Field Station, our students have all the resources they need to learn about soils and hydrology first hand. Faculty make full use of our location in the midwestern prairie, and Green Oaks Term offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in forest, grassland, and aquatic environments by living and studying at Green Oaks for the entirety of the term.
3. Our research takes us around the world. For several years, the department has taken students on a six week summer trip to Jordan, through Petra and Jerash and drained wetlands in the desert. Students rotate through locations while researching different methodologies and learning the resource challenges of the country.
4. Our inquiries go down to the atom. Visiting geological sites is only half of the journey: students work on projects like extracting elements from soil and then measuring them in our nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. Even as undergraduates, our students are able to contribute to the body of scientific knowledge, and we're happy to share our work: just ask Alexis Stephen '18, who presented at the Geological Society of America in Baltimore with the results of her analyses of prairie soils.
5. We're prepared for the future. A minor in earth science allows students to study earth science the way they want—whether that be through the lens of chemistry, statistics, environmental science, or some other field, our students are prepared to enter graduate programs in geology.