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Geoscience

Geoscience faculty and students study the many physical, chemical, and biological systems that compose the earth. Using modern observational, analytical, and computational methods, they examine how the planet's interior, surface, hydrosphere, and atmosphere have evolved since the earth was born in the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Topics commonly studied in the department include how plate movements cause earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building; global climate change and how climate change and catastrophic events cause changes in biodiversity; how and where economic resources are generated in the earth; and how these resources are located and used in modern society.

The geoscience curriculum provides students with hands-on experience analyzing rocks, minerals, fossils, soils, and waters, generally in a small classroom setting. Much of this experience is obtained in laboratory and field courses. Field courses include travel to other states or countries to view earth materials and fossils in the context of their natural surroundings.

The master's degree is regarded by most hiring agencies as the working degree. The doctoral degree is required for college and university teaching positions. However, an undergraduate degree is fully satisfactory in certain teaching, government, and industrial situations.

Many of The University of Iowa's geoscience graduates find employment with resource companies, environmental corporations, and educational institutions. Others continue in graduate school or take jobs with government or conservation agencies. Some intend to enter law, business, or fields such as urban planning, environmental studies, engineering, archaeology, science education, or oceanography as advanced areas. Geoscience provides skills useful for all of these.

Each year more than 1,800 students enroll in 012:003 Earth History and Resources, 012:004 Evolution and the History of Life, 012:005 Introduction to Geology, 012:007 Age of Dinosaurs, 012:008 Introduction to Environmental Science, 012:114 Energy and the Environment, and 012:140 Natural Hazards. All of these courses are approved by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the natural sciences requirement of the General Education Program.

For nonmajors, the department offers a lecture sequence featuring a general survey of geoscience: 012:004 Evolution and the History of Life and 012:008 Introduction to Environmental Science. It also offers several intermediate courses with few prerequisites: 012:102 Earth Surface Processes, 012:107 Marine Ecosystems and Conservation, 012:108 Introduction to Oceanography, 012:110 Introduction to Applied Remote Sensing, 012:114 Energy and the Environment, and 012:121 Principles of Paleontology.

Many of the department's faculty members are involved in the interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences Program (see Environmental Sciences in the Catalog).

Undergraduate Programs

The department offers a Bachelor of Science, a Bachelor of Arts, and a minor in geoscience. Students majoring in geoscience take at least an academic year's work in three allied scientific areas--physics, chemistry, and mathematics--and a semester of biology in addition to a course in each major area of geology.

B.S. or B.A. with Double Major or Minor

Geoscience students may elect to pursue an additional major or a minor in a related discipline, usually chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, environmental sciences, or anthropology. See Earning a Degree (Earning Two or More Majors, Earning Multiple Undergraduate Degrees, and Certificates and Minors) in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Student Academic Handbook.

Independent Research for Geoscience Majors

A junior or senior who is ready to pursue independent research for credit in geoscience may assist a faculty member or graduate student with a current research project (012:019 Directed Study) or may initiate a small-scale project involving a combination of field, laboratory, and library investigation (012:119 Directed Study). Independent study is encouraged and may result in an honors thesis (012:010 Honors Thesis in Geoscience) or a senior thesis (012:011 Senior Thesis in Geoscience) that is published subsequently. Students completing an honors or senior thesis must enroll in 012:190 Undergraduate Geoscience Colloquium for one semester during their final year of study.

Bachelor of Science

The Bachelor of Science in geoscience requires a minimum of 120 s.h., including at least 69 s.h. (18 courses) of work for the major (38 s.h. in geoscience courses and at least 31 s.h. in supporting disciplines). The program is designed to prepare students for immediate employment after graduation or to enter a graduate program in geology.

Students must complete the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education Program. The department recommends that they fulfill the foreign language requirement with French, German, Russian, or Spanish and the social sciences requirement with an approved course in economics, geography, or anthropology.

Transfer students must complete a minimum of 15 s.h. of course work in the Department of Geoscience.

The geoscience major for a B.S. requires the following course work.

One of these: 

All of these: 

One of these: 

At least 8 s.h. of calculus, including one of these: 

B.S. students complete an additional course in mathematics (numbered 22M:027 Introduction to Linear Algebra and above), computer science (numbered 22C:005 Introduction to Computer Science and above), or statistics (numbered 22S:030 Statistical Methods and Computing and above).

They also complete the following course work in chemistry, physics, and biology (these are minimum requirements).

At least 8 s.h. of college-level chemistry is required, including the following, equivalent courses, or more advanced courses; chemistry courses numbered below 004:011 Principles of Chemistry I cannot be used to satisfy the chemistry requirement for the B.S. in geoscience. 

At least 8 s.h. of college-level physics is required, as follows; physics courses numbered below 029:011 cannot be used to satisfy the physics requirement for the B.S. in geoscience.

One of these sequences: 

At least one biological science course that includes a laboratory (4 s.h.) is required. Students with an interest in paleontology are encouraged to take 002:010 Principles of Biology I and 002:011 Principles of Biology II.

RECOMMENDED OPTIONS

All B.S. students should take elective courses from the following groups in order to broaden their undergraduate experience and prepare themselves for graduate study or professional employment. Students who have clear career goals are advised to take three or more elective courses from the group that fits their needs most closely. Students also may seek a broad education in geoscience by choosing elective courses from a number of groups.

Quaternary Geology 

Environmental Geology 

Geochemistry 

Tectonics/Petrology 

Sedimentary Geology 

Paleobiology 

Bachelor of Arts

The Bachelor of Arts in geoscience requires a minimum of 120 s.h., including at least 51 s.h. (17-18 courses) of work for the major (35 s.h. in geoscience courses and at least 16 s.h. in supporting disciplines). The program is designed to provide students with a varied background in geology and a broader choice of electives than is practical in the B.S. program. The B.A. is intended for students who are interested in the fundamentals of geology or earth science teaching (see Teaching and Learning, College of Education, in the Catalog). Completing the minimum requirements for this degree may not adequately prepare a student for an entry-level professional job in geology.

Students must complete the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education Program. The department recommends that they fulfill the foreign language requirement with French, German, Russian, or Spanish and the social sciences requirement with an approved course in economics, geography, or anthropology.

Transfer students must complete a minimum of 15 s.h. of course work in the Department of Geoscience.

The geoscience major for a B.A. requires the following course work.

One of these: 

All of these: 

One or both of these: 

One to four of these: 

B.A. students must complete the following course work in mathematics and chemistry (these are minimum requirements). 

At least two college-level chemistry courses (either Option 1 or Option 2) are required; chemistry courses numbered below 004:007 General Chemistry I cannot be used to satisfy the chemistry requirement for the B.A. in geoscience.

Option 1: 

Option 2: 

FIELD REQUIREMENT

To complete the major, students must have field experience. They may take two semesters of 012:018 Geology Field Trip: Selected National Parks or 012:116 Field Trip, or one semester of each of these courses (total of 4 s.h.). Or they may take one semester of 012:112 Geologic Field Methods, 012:113 Geologic Field Analysis, or the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory session. 

Four-Year Graduation Plan

The following checkpoints list the minimum requirements students must complete by certain semesters in order to stay on the University's Four-Year Graduation Plan. (Courses in the major are those required to complete the major; they may be offered by departments other than the major department.)

Note: These checkpoints show the range of required course work; the B.A. program requires 17-18 courses, and the B.S. requires 18.

The geoscience major requires field trip experiences, many of which take place during vacation periods during or between semesters, or during the summer session. These checkpoints do not include the field trip requirements.

Before the third semester begins: competence in math through trigonometry, first required chemistry course, and at least one-quarter of the semester hours required for graduation

Before the fifth semester begins: three to five courses in the major (including the remainder of the chemistry requirement and continuation of the mathematics requirement) and at least one-half of the semester hours required for graduation

Before the seventh semester begins: 7-11 courses in the major and at least three-quarters of the semester hours required for graduation

Before the eighth semester begins: 10-14 courses in the major

During the eighth semester: enrollment in all remaining course work in the major, all remaining General Education courses, and a sufficient number of semester hours to graduate

Honors

Qualified students may earn a degree with honors in geoscience. Honors program students must complete a senior thesis (012:010 Honors Thesis in Geoscience) and maintain a cumulative University of Iowa g.p.a. of at least 3.33 in order to graduate with honors (contact the University of Iowa Honors Program for more information). They also must obtain approval of their honors thesis contract from their advisor and the department's undergraduate committee; have a cumulative g.p.a. of at least 3.33 in geoscience courses; earn a grade of B or higher in the Honors Thesis in Geoscience (012:010); and earn a grade of B or higher in 012:190 Undergraduate Geoscience Colloquium in their thesis year.

Minor

The minor in geoscience requires a minimum of 15 s.h. in geoscience courses, including 12 s.h. in advanced-level courses offered by the Department of Geoscience at The University of Iowa. Students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 2.00 in the minor. Course work in the minor may not be taken pass/nonpass. Courses 012:041 Mineralogy, 012:112 Geologic Field Methods, 012:132 Structural Geology, 012:150 Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, and all geoscience courses numbered 100 and above are considered advanced for the minor.

College-level courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology usually are required as collateral work for geology students. Those seeking a minor in geoscience should be sufficiently prepared in the areas of supporting sciences before they take advanced courses in geoscience.

Recommended advanced courses in geoscience that deal with important areas of earth materials and earth processes are as follows. 

National Honor Society

The department sponsors a chapter of Sigma Gamma Epsilon National Honor Society for the Earth Sciences. Students with an overall g.p.a. of at least 2.80 and at least 3.20 in geoscience courses are considered for membership after they have completed a minimum of 16 s.h. of course work in geoscience. Consult the departmental honors advisor for more information.

Graduate Programs

The Department of Geoscience offers a Master of Science, with and without thesis, and a Doctor of Philosophy in geoscience.

All geoscience graduate students are responsible for meeting requirements and deadlines. They should acquaint themselves with the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College, particularly sections IX, X, and XII (see Graduate College in the Catalog), and with the University calendar (for deadline dates and so forth).

The department provides detailed information about current graduate degree requirements and timelines for making satisfactory progress toward a degree in the document "The University of Iowa Guidelines for Graduate Study in Geoscience"; see Graduate Programs in Geoscience on the department's web site and click Graduate Student Guidelines, under Additional Information.

Entering graduate students are required to complete 012:207 Geologic Orientation during their first fall semester after enrolling in the program. M.S. students must complete 012:201 Geoscience Seminar Series each of their first four semesters in the M.S. graduate program, and Ph.D. students must complete the course each of their first six semesters in the Ph.D. program.

By the first month of their second semester after enrolling in the M.S. or Ph.D. program, students must select an advisor. Also during their second semester after enrolling, they must consult with faculty members and arrange for an advisory committee, which must be approved by the department chair by the end of their second semester.

Throughout their graduate study, all M.S. and Ph.D. students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 3.00 on all course work required for their degree and on all graduate-level geoscience course work. Students whose g.p.a. drops below 3.00 are placed on academic probation.

Geoscience graduate students are encouraged to present their research at local, regional, national, or international meetings. The department provides partial funding for travel to such meetings.

Master of Science

The Master of Science in geoscience requires a minimum of 30 s.h. of graduate credit. The program is designed primarily to prepare students for professional careers in geoscience, or for more advanced studies. M.S. students may count up to 8 s.h. of research credit toward the 30 s.h. required for the degree. They must earn at least 24 s.h. toward the degree in University of Iowa courses taken after they enroll in the program. M.S. students are required to complete 012:201 Geoscience Seminar Series each of their first four semesters in the M.S. program.

M.S. thesis students are responsible for obtaining their advisory committee's approval of a suitable program of course work and for satisfactory development of research plans as outlined in a thesis proposal, which should be completed and approved by the department chair before the end of the second semester of full-time study. Thesis students must deliver a half-hour public presentation of their thesis, followed by an oral defense, supporting research, and related topics. They also must take a final examination, for which members of their advisory committee act as examiners.

Individuals interested in pursuing the M.S. without thesis must obtain the department chair's permission. The program is designed for students with extensive geological background and experience. Requirements for the nonthesis option are similar to those for the M.S. with thesis, except that in place of the thesis, nonthesis students submit a manuscript that their thesis committee deems acceptable for submission for publication. The student may choose to submit a previously published manuscript. Nonthesis students also must take a final examination that covers course work and the work done in place of the thesis.

Doctor of Philosophy

The Doctor of Philosophy in geoscience requires a minimum of 72 s.h. of graduate credit. The program is designed primarily to train students to be independent researchers and/or teachers, and to bring students to the forefront of a specialized area of geoscience.

Ph.D. students usually enter the program with established fields of interest and a research advisor already selected. Under exceptional circumstances, a student may be admitted to the Ph.D. program without an established field of interest.

After earning their first 24 s.h. of graduate credit, Ph.D. students must spend at least two semesters enrolled in full-time study (9 s.h. per semester) at The University of Iowa. They are required to include in their plan of study at least 18 s.h. of regular course work taught by tenured or tenure-track faculty members of the Department of Geoscience. Students must earn the 18 s.h. after being admitted to the Ph.D. program. Directed study and research credit do not count toward the 18 s.h.

Students must complete 012:207 Geologic Orientation by the end of their first year of enrollment in the Ph.D. program. They also are required to complete 012:201 Geoscience Seminar Series each of their first six semesters after being admitted to the Ph.D. program.

Entering Ph.D. students must consult with a research advisor or the department's director of graduate study before they enroll in courses. By the first month of their second semester of doctoral study, all Ph.D. students must select an advisor; the advisor must be a tenured or tenure-track faculty member of the Department of Geoscience and must be approved by the department chair. Each student also must select a thesis topic and forward it to the department chair for approval by the end of the first month of the second semester of doctoral study.

During the second semester of doctoral study, each Ph.D. student should propose an advisory committee of at least five faculty members, including the advisor. The advisor and at least one committee member must be tenured or tenure-track faculty members of the Department of Geoscience. A majority of the committee's members should be from the Department of Geoscience, and one member must be a University of Iowa graduate faculty member from outside the Department of Geoscience. The committee must be approved by the department chair.

Before the end of the second semester of doctoral study, each student must obtain his or her committee's approval of a suitable plan of study, which is then submitted to the department chair for approval.  In consultation with the advisor and other faculty members, each doctoral candidate prepares a formal dissertation proposal, which must be submitted to the department chair by the end of the candidate's third semester of doctoral study and before the bulk of the candidate's research is completed. The proposal must receive the committee's unanimous approval.

Students should complete most of their course work before taking the comprehensive examination, which consists of both written and oral portions and which must be passed before the end of the fourth semester of doctoral study.

Once Ph.D. candidates have passed the comprehensive examination, they are required to register each semester until they receive the degree. Candidates who have completed their plan of study may register for 000:002 Doctoral Continuous Registration or 000:003 Doctoral Final Registration.

Students must submit their written dissertation to the committee at least two weeks before the final examination. All Ph.D. candidates must deliver a one-hour public presentation associated with the dissertation defense.

Admission

Applicants to graduate programs in geoscience must hold a bachelor's degree from a college or university accredited by a regional accrediting association. They must have a g.p.a. of at least 3.00 (M.S. applicants) or at least 3.20 (Ph.D. applicants), or a combined verbal and quantitative score of at least 1100 and an analytical writing score of at least 4.5 on the Graduate Record Exam (taken since October 1, 2002).

Applicants with a g.p.a. of at least 2.30 (M.S. applicants) or at least 2.70 (Ph.D. applicants) may be admitted on conditional status. They must enroll in at least 8 s.h. of graduate course work during each session and must attain regular status at the end of the second session of registration.

Applicants whose first language is not English must score at least 550 (paper-based), 213 (computer-based), or 81 (Internet-based) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Applicants must meet the admission requirements of the Graduate College; see the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College or the Graduate College section of the Catalog.

The department also admits students who are not candidates for a degree. Such students, called professional improvement students, must meet the same standards as applicants to the master's program.

Financial Support

The Department of Geoscience offers merit-based graduate assistantships. All admitted graduate students are eligible for assistantships.

M.S. students may hold an assistantship for two academic years and Ph.D. students for up to four. In order to retain their appointments from semester to semester, students must perform satisfactorily in the assistantship and must continue to make satisfactory progress toward completion of their degrees. Students who begin graduate study without an assistantship may become eligible for one as appointments become available.

Students must demonstrate proficiency in English before they can be considered for a teaching assistantship. Teaching assistants are evaluated each semester for teaching proficiency and communication skills, through student evaluations and observation by a supervising instructor. Research assistantships are typically funded by individual faculty grants; they vary depending on the nature of the funded project. Duties often involve activities such as sample collection and preparation; collection, analysis, and interpretation of analytical or measurement data; preparation of maps and diagrams; and assistance with fieldwork.

Outstanding students who are entering their first year of graduate school and are enrolled in doctoral programs may apply for a Presidential Graduate Fellowship, which provides three academic years and all summers without formal work assignments, freeing students to pursue their own research.

The department also awards a significant number of tuition scholarships based on merit.

Facilities

Resources and equipment available for research in the Department of Geoscience include the following.

Computer facilities: five teaching classrooms with 10-12 networked PC workstations; a computing classroom with 20 PCs and 10 Macs with GIS, GMS, remote sensing, image analysis, and specialized computational software packages; a student computer room with 6 PCs and 2 Macs; and a number of multiprocessor workstations in research laboratories.

Environmental and Hydrogeology Laboratory: permeameters and tensionometers; pumping and slug/bail test units with transducers and data-loggers; water-quality analysis facility; advanced groundwater modeling and geostatistics software; advanced data logging systems for field research; 3-D sensor arrays (wind and water systems); and facilities for field instrumentation design and construction.

Environmental Instrumentation Laboratories: storage, testing, and teaching facility focusing on field instrumentation; assembly, housing, and testing of climatic, meteorological, fluvial, water quality and associated environmental instrumentation data recording systems and sampling systems.

Geomorphic Computing Laboratory: high-end visualization, digitizing, remote sensing and GIS systems; and high-end multiprocessor workstations.

Geoscience Library: a branch of University of Iowa Libraries that serves the University community, the Iowa Geological Survey Bureau, and the public; more than 55,000 volumes to support research, study, and teaching, including publications of state, federal, and international geological surveys and field trip guidebooks; more than 73,000 geological maps, including the newest versions of U.S. topographic quadrangle maps.

Morphometric laboratories: reflex microscope and microscribe for capturing 3-D data; high-resolution digital cameras and microscopes for 2-D image analysis; and laboratories for micro- and macro-fossil preparation.

Paleontological Repository: more than a million specimens, including some 25,000 type and referred specimens, with 6,000-7,000 primary types; invertebrate, vertebrate, and plant fossils of all geologic ages, and more than 90 percent Paleozoic invertebrates; the fifth-largest university collection in North America (CONARIP 1977).

Petrology laboratories: clean laboratory for preparation of samples for elemental and isotopic analysis; alpha-spectrometry laboratory; image analysis; heating freezing stage; petrographic microscopes; photo microscopy; wet-chemistry facilities; rock preparation and mineral separation; UNIX, Windows, and Mac workstations for data analysis and modeling; and one atm gas-mixing furnace for melt inclusion homogenization.

Quaternary Materials Laboratory: pipette grain-size analysis apparatus; chittick apparatus; Sedigraph 5100 X-ray particle-size analyzer; wet-chemistry facilities; C-H-N element analyzer; a Flotech flotation system; and a Giddings drill rig.

Scanning Electron Microscope: Hitachi S-3400N, a variable-pressure scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a motorized stage, large chamber, and digital image capture; capable of imaging specimens with no metal coating, or specimens that are slightly hydrated or porous, as well as conventionally processed specimens; equipped with a Bruker AXS Quantax 400 X-ray microanalysis system; XFlash silicon drift detector with excellent energy resolution and light element detection, providing ultra-fast acquisition of line scans and elemental maps.

Sedimentary geology laboratories: water ion chromatograph; image analysis; sedigraph X-ray particle-size analyzer; and a soil/sediment characterization laboratory.

Thin-section and rock preparation laboratory: diamond saws and specialized grinding equipment used to prepare ultrathin slices (30 microns thick) of rocks and fossils for microscopic and electron microprobe analysis.

Cooperative Activities

The department does collaborative work with the Iowa Geological Survey Bureau and the Office of the State Archaeologist of Iowa. Geoscience students sometimes work on projects for the survey.

The Departments of Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Geography, and Geoscience share services, expertise, joint instruction, and equipment. The geoscience department is an important participant in the Iowa Quaternary Studies group, an interdisciplinary program that promotes projects combining work in anthropology, biology, geography, geology, and statistics. Course work, degree programs, and facilities are shared among departments. The geoscience department and its faculty also support and actively participate in the interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences Program, which offers a Bachelor of Science degree.

Field Trips

Field trips are integral parts of several courses in geoscience, with frequent weekend general-interest events. The geology of the Iowa City region is characterized by Quaternary glacial sediments on a largely Paleozoic sedimentary section a few hundred meters thick, overlying a Precambrian crystalline basement. Marine and terrestrial fossil assemblages, extensive reefs, and unique geode sites are located within a few hours' drive. Numerous Pleistocene glaciations are represented in Iowa, and field studies of landforms, exposures, and cores continue to yield information on sedimentology, stratigraphy, soil formation, paleopedology, and fossil biotas from both glacial and interglacial deposits.

Spring break provides time for longer trips, which are open to all geoscience students. In recent years, students have traveled to the southern Appalachians, Arizona, Death Valley, the Florida Keys, Hawaii, New Mexico, the Ozarks, Puerto Rico, and Texas. Advanced classes have visited California, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada.