Soil is considered the "skin of the earth", with interfaces between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. It is the mixture of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids and a myriad of organisms that can support plant life. As such, soil is a natural body that exists as part of the environment. This course will examine the nature, properties, formation and environmental functions of soil. In addition to lectures, the course includes biweekly labs or field trips, and a multi-day field trip to held during Spring Break.

Soil is considered the "skin of the earth", with interfaces between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. It is the mixture of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids and a myriad of organisms that can support plant life. As such, soil is a natural body that exists as part of the environment. This course will examine the nature, properties, formation and environmental functions of soil. In addition to lectures, the course includes biweekly labs or field trips, and a multi-day field trip to held during Spring Break.

This class will discuss physical principles fundamental to the theoretical,observational, and experimental study of geophysical fluids, the equations of motion for rotating fluids; hydrostatic and Boussinesq approximations; circulation theorem; conservation of potential vorticity; scale analysis, geostrophic wind, quasigeostrophic system; wave theory and applications, flow instabilities, geophysical boundary layers. Depending on student interest, the class will be adapted to include applications from Oceanography, Meteorology, Geophysics or Engineering.

This course will introduce graduate students to the principles of remote sensing, characteristics of remote sensors, and remote sensing applications. Image acquisition, data collection in the electromagnetic spectrum, and data set manipulations for earth and environmental science applications will be emphasized. We will cover fundamental knowledge of the physics of remote sensing; aerial photographic techniques; multispectral, hyperspectral, thermal, and other image analysis. Students will pursue an independent research project using remote sensing tols, and at the end of the semester should have a good understanding and the basic skills of remote sensing. Expectations for the graduate student independent research projects will be at the graduate level and can relate to their capstone or Ph.D. thesis research topics.

This course will survey the way geology controls the formation and location of energy resources. Questions we'll address include, "How are oil and gas fields formed?", "Why does the Middle East have so much oil?", "What are the best locations in the US for wind and solar energy generation, and why?". We will discuss hydrocarbon, nuclear, solar, wind, and tidal energy sources.

The culmination of the Earth Science major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis.

The culmination of the Earth Science major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis.

The culmination of the Earth Science major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis.