Earth Sciences

Program Scope

The Bachelor of Science in Earth Sciences is designed for students intending to prepare for direct entry into a career as a professional in industry or government, or for graduate school in any of the earth sciences, such as geology, oceanography and meteorology.

Courses in the B.S. degree’s Earth Sciences core, supported by courses in the basic science and math foundation, give students a strong understanding of the structure and behavior of Earth’s systems (geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere) and the physical process through which they interact. The Earth Sciences core courses teach not only interdisciplinary science concepts but also skills in quantitative problem solving, fieldwork, and writing and oral communication, which are directly applicable to both graduate school and a career. Students develop disciplinary depth by selecting an emphases area: Geology; Hydrology; or Oceans, Weather and Climate.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Scientific principles and methods - graduates will be able to:

• apply the scientific method to solve problems in the Earth sciences, which includes making observations, asking scientific questions, forming and testing hypotheses, and analyzing and evaluating the results.
• collect, analyze, and interpret observations, and use field and laboratory equipment and data analysis software appropriate to their area of emphasis in the Earth sciences.
• explain that all observations contain uncertainty, be able to quantitatively evaluate this uncertainty, and assess the implications of that uncertainty.
• retrieve, use, and critically interpret the scientific literature.
• create and interpret graphical representations of data.
• create, manipulate, and interpret mathematical representations of Earth systems.

2. Process-level understanding - graduates will be able to:

• demonstrate a qualitative understanding of the processes driving the major Earth systems, including within the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and Earth’s energy budget, as well as the fluxes of mass and energy within and between Earth systems, such as plate tectonics and climate system.
• demonstrate a quantitative understanding of the processes driving the Earth systems in their area of emphasis.
• demonstrate an understanding of the widely varying temporal and spatial scales of surface, subsurface, and deep-Earth processes that control changes in the Earth systems.

3. Application to societal issues - graduates will be able to:

• use scientific principles and the understanding of physical processes to interpret the societal implications arising from anthropogenic and environmental change, such as natural hazards, resource management, and climate change.
• Give an informed critique of the scientific data and literature underlying current policy discussions that relate to their emphasis area.

4. Communication - graduates will be able to:

• collaborate effectively
• effectively communicate scientific information in a variety of oral, visual, and written formats.
• accurately and effectively record and document data, evidence, and findings.