2015-2016 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Geology
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 Return to: College of Science and Engineering
Introduction
The natural setting of Western Washington University adjacent to the Cascade Mountains and Salish Sea provides an ideal situation for study of a wide variety of geologic problems.
Faculty
At the present time the department consists of 13 faculty members who have a broad range of backgrounds covering the entire field of geology. There are about 180 undergraduate students declaring geology majors and approximately 30 graduate students in the department.
BERNARD A. HOUSEN (1997) Chair and Professor. BS, University of Washington; MS, PhD, University of Michigan.
COLIN B. AMOS (2012) Assistant Professor. BS, University of California - Davis; PhD, University of California - Santa Barbara
JACQUELINE CAPLAN-AUERBACH (2006) Associate Professor. BA, Yale University; PhD, University of Hawaii-Manoa.
DOUGLAS H. CLARK (1998) Associate Professor. BS, MS, Stanford University; PhD, University of Washington.
SUSAN M. DEBARI (1998) Professor. BA, Cornell University; PhD, Stanford University.
BRADY Z. FOREMAN (2014) Assistant Professor. BA, Macalester College; MS University of Michigan; PhD University of Wyoming.
EDWARD E. GEARY (2013) Professor. BS, Stanford University; MS, PhD, Cornell University.
THOR A. HANSEN (1985) Professor. BS, George Washington University; PhD, Yale University.
SCOTT R. LINNEMAN (2000) Professor. BA, Carleton College; PhD, University of Wyoming.
ROBERT J. MITCHELL (1996) Professor. BS, University of Wisconsin-River Falls; MS, Michigan Technological University; PhD, Michigan Technological University.
SEAN R. MULCAHY (2015) Assistant Professor. BS, Virginia Tech; PhD, University of California, Davis.
MELISSA R. RICE (2014) Assistant Professor. BA, Wellesley College; MS, PhD, Cornell University.
ELIZABETH R. SCHERMER (1990) Professor. BS, Stanford University; PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
PETE STELLING (2011) Assistant Professor. BA, Western State College, Colorado; PhD, University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
Research Associates
CLARK M. BLAKE (1993) AB, University of California-Berkeley; PhD, Stanford University.
RUSSELL F. BURMESTER (1978). BS, Stanford University; MA, University of Texas-Austin; PhD, Princeton University.
ERIC E. GROSSMAN (2011) BA, University of California, Berkeley, MS, PhD, University of Hawaii.
GEORGE MUSTOE (2014) BS, MS, Western Washington University.
BRIAN RUSK (2011) BS, James Madison University, PhD, University of Oregon.
Adjunct Faculty
DAVID TUCKER (2006) BS, MS, Western Washington University.
PETER WILLING (1997) BA, University of Washington; MS, PhD, Cornell University.
Declaration of Major
Phase I: Students can declare as a Phase I major at any time as long as they are in good academic standing. Students can declare and complete a Geology minor, a BA in Geology, or a BA in Education Earth Science or Earth Science/General Science without advancing to Phase II.
Students who wish to earn a BS Geology or BS Geophysics degree must complete a set of preparatory courses for admission into these degree programs. Students must earn a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher in this set of preparatory courses, and be in good academic standing to qualify for admission. Priority for admission will be given to students who have a GPA of 2.5 or higher in these preparatory courses; students with a lower GPA will be admitted on a space-available basis.
Preparatory courses for BS Geology:
- GEOL 211, GEOL 212 and GEOL 213
- one of GEOL 306, GEOL 310, GEOL 318, or GEOL 352
- CHEM 121, MATH 124
Preparatory courses in BS Geophysics:
- GEOL 211, GEOL 352
- PHYS 161, PHYS 162
- MATH 124
Geologist License Education Requirements
A professional license is required by law to practice geology in Washington State. The first step toward licensure is passing the National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG) Fundamentals of Geology exam. To qualify to take ASBOG’s Fundamentals of Geology exam you must satisfy certain educational requirements. If you obtain a B.S. degree in geology from WWU your educational requirements are met. If you choose a B.A. in geology or a B.S. in geophysics degree you must have a minimum of 36 credits in specific content areas, so please see your departmental advisor for planning if you take one of these degrees and wish to pursue a professional license.
Departmental Honors and Distinctions
BA or BS students and students in the University Honors program who have completed at least 4 credits of GEOL 490 and have a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher meet the requirements for departmental honors. Those students who have completed at least 4 credits of GEOL 490 and have a cumulative GPA higher than 3.20 meet the requirements for departmental distinction.
Other Departmental Information
Facilities and Equipment
Geology is a science that studies the earth, including its surface, interior and history and the processes that have altered it through time. It embraces investigation of the natural environment both in the field and in the laboratory. The Geology Department occupies laboratories, classrooms and offices constructed in 1976 in the Environmental Studies Center. Geology laboratory facilities and equipment are available for Geographic Information System and computational geology, X-ray diffraction, atomic absorption, sedimentation, air photo interpretation, flume and wave tank studies, paleomagnetic analysis, near-surface geophysics, seismology, geochemistry, and petrography, x-ray fluoresence, laser ablation-ICP-MS. Additional equipment and facilities are available through the Geology Department’s affiliation with the Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center (AMSEC).
Programs
Objectives of the department are varied, including preparation of undergraduate and graduate students for graduate school and careers as professional geoscientists and also preparation of earth science teachers at the primary and secondary levels.
A wide variety of geologic phenomena in the adjacent Cascade Range and the marine environment of Salish Sea provide a broad spectrum of geologic features for study.
The department offers BA, BAE, BS and MS degrees plus specialized courses in the following subjects: economic geology; environmental geology; geochemistry; geomorphology; geophysics; glacial geology; hydrology; paleomagnetism; paleontology; petrology; planetary geology; sedimentation; seismology; stratigraphy; and structure and tectonics.
Student Involvement in Research
The faculty in the Geology Department are active in a wide variety of ongoing research projects that frequently involve undergraduate and graduate students in special projects and thesis projects or provide employment. Some of this research is funded or partially supported from grants to individual faculty members from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, National Parks Commission, Office of Ecology and geological-related companies. Many of these projects are in the Western Washington region, others include investigations in other parts of the United States, Canada, overseas, or at sea as part of larger oceanographic projects.
Writing Proficiency Course Guidelines
The geology department has a multi-tiered system for upper division writing proficiency courses. Courses are assigned writing proficiency points based on the percentage of the course grade that is determined by writing assignments. A minimum of three writing proficiency points in approved upper-division writing proficiency courses at WWU with a minimum grade of C- is required.
ProgramsUndergraduate MajorUndergraduate Combined MajorUndergraduate MinorGraduateCoursesGeology
Courses numbered X37; X97; 300, 400, 500 are described in the University Academic Policies section of this catalog. Interdisciplinary Sciences, Technology, and Mathematics
Courses numbered X37; X97; 300, 400 are described in the University Academic Policies section of this catalog.
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