Explore Environmental Geology: See how a Major in Geology with environmental focus can prepare you for exciting careers.

There are several ways to prepare for a career that applies your geologic expertise to the solution of environmental problems. You can major in Environmental Science with a focus track in environmental geology. You can also complete a Geology B.A. or B.S. degree that has focuses on the environment by selecting geology and approved ancillary science classes with this emphasis. A critical component of your college career should include independent research under the guidance of a UVM faculty member. There are numerous opportunities to do environmentally-related research in geology. The core major courses in geology (062, 101, 110, 260) will provide you with the foundation for doing field-based data collection. Along with overview courses in contemporary environmental problems (ENVS 001, 002) the Geology major will position you with skills in spatial analysis, map interpretation, field data collection, computer modeling and problem-solving to use in a wide range of post-graduate careers essential for success in environmental careers.

Courses particularly useful for careers in environmental geology would include:

GEOL 055 Environmental Geology
GEOL 116 Glacial Geology
GEOL 151 Geomorphology
GEOL 161 Field Methods in Geophysics
GEOL 135 Geochemistry
GEOL 235 Aqueous Geochemistry
GEOL 233 Environmental Isotope Geochemistry
GEOL 234 Global Biogeochemical Cycles
GEOG 184 Geographic Information Systems
GEOL 197/198 Undergraduate Research in Geology

Descriptions for each of these courses can be found in the UVM catalogue

Recent Undergraduate Research Projects in Environmental Geology

• “Sulfide/Oxygen Supply Ratio Predicts Outcome Of Competition Among Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria in Cave Waters”
• “Relating Sediment Nutrient Mobility to Seasonal Redox Fluctuations at the Sediment-Water Interface in a Eutrophic Freshwater Lake”
• “Impacts of Large Storms on Vermont lakes: A Case Study From Lake Rescue, Ludlow, Vermont”
• “Hydrogeology of a fractured bedrock aquifer in strongly deformed and metamorphosed rocks of the Rowe-Hawley belt, central Vermont”
• Fractured bedrock hydrogeology of a well field in the complexly deformed Connecticut valley trough of central Vermont

How the Geology major with an environmental focus differs from the Environmental Science major

The Environmental Science degree requires you to take additional course work in organic chemistry and a year of biology in addition to two additional courses in environmental science. As a result, you take fewer geology-specific courses. Both offer the opportunity for undergraduate research. Both are gateways to graduate schools and jobs in the environmental field.