Program Overview

Master of Science in Geosciences

The Master of Science in Geosciences is a 36 semester credit hour minimum program that offers two options: Thesis and Non-Thesis.

Program Faculty

The program faculty includes:

• Professors: David Lumley, William I. Manton, Robert J. Stern
  • Associate Professors: Thomas H. Brikowski, Hejun Zhu
  • Professors Emeriti: David E. Dunn, George A. McMechan, Richard M. Mitterer, Emile A. Pessagno Jr., Dean C. Presnall
  • Research Professor: John W. Geissman
  • Associate Professor of Instruction: William R. Griffin, Ignacio Pujana
  • Assistant Professor of Instruction: Mortaza Pirouz

Thesis Option

All students seeking the Master of Science degree (thesis option) must satisfactorily complete the following requirements:

• GEOS 5315: The Earth: An Overview
• GEOS 5325: Remote Sensing Fundamentals or GEOS 6381: Geographic Information Systems Fundamentals
• GEOS 5375: Tectonics
• GEOS 5387: Applied Geophysics
• A minimum of 15 semester credit hours of additional graduate courses
• A minimum of 9 semester credit hours of thesis research, including GEOS 6398: Thesis
• Submit an acceptable thesis In addition to the above requirements, students seeking the MS degree (thesis option) must:
• Submit, no later than the second semester of enrollment, an acceptable degree plan and a research proposal to their supervising committee
• Publicly defend the thesis upon completion of the thesis research

Non-Thesis Option

All students seeking the Master of Science degree (non-thesis option) must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 36 graduate semester credit hours, including:

• GEOS 5315: The Earth: An Overview
• GEOS 5325: Remote Sensing Fundamentals or GEOS 6381: Geographic Information Systems Fundamentals
• GEOS 5375: Tectonics
• GEOS 5387: Applied Geophysics
• A minimum of 21 semester credit hours of additional graduate courses, to be selected in consultation with the graduate advisor
• An 8000 level, 3-semester credit hour research course In addition to the above requirements, students seeking the MS degree (non-thesis option) must submit, no later than the second semester of enrollment, an acceptable degree plan.