Geoscience (GEOS) - Minor

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students studying geoscience

23-25 credits

2.0 GPA required.

Letter grade required in all minor courses unless otherwise noted.

The Geoscience minor option provides students with the foundational knowledge, field and laboratory skills required of professional geoscientists. It is designed to prepare students for success in an increasingly interdisciplinary world. Geoscience program majors are not eligible to minor in Geoscience.

Introduction to Geoscience (4-5 credits)

Choose one course or one grouping of courses:

GEOS 101 - Minnesota’s Rocks and Waters with Lab (4 credits)
GEOS 110 - Oceanography with Laboratory (4 credits)
GEOS 113 - Natural Disasters with Laboratory (4 credits)
GEOS 114 - Climate, Catastrophes and Extinctions with Laboratory (4 credits)
GEOS 146 - Paleontology and Dinosaurs with Laboratory (4 credits)
GEOS 215 - Earth System Science (4 credits)
GEOS 199 - Introductory Geoscience Laboratory (1 credit) AND one of the following: GEOS 100 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 111 , or 145 .

Earth Talks Speaker Series

Enrollment with a P grade required three times prior to graduation - unless excused by department chair.

GEOS 090 - Earth Talks Speaker Series (0 credits)

Geoscience Core Courses (12 credits)

GEOS 235 - Earth and Life Through Time (4 credits)
GEOS 301 - Field and Analytical Methods I (4 credits)

Choose one

GEOS 305 - Earth Materials (4 credits)
GEOS 309 - Watershed Science (4 credits)

Geoscience Electives (7-8 credits)

Choose 7-8 credits from the GEOS courses below numbered 300 and higher. Electives must include at least one approved upper-level laboratory course.

GEOS 305 - Earth Materials (4 credits)
GEOS 309 - Watershed Science (4 credits)
GEOS 316 - Geographic Information Systems (3 credits)
GEOS 325 - Environmental Geoscience (3 credits)
GEOS 335 - Global Climate Change (3 credits)
GEOS 345 - Dinosaur Field Paleontology (4 credits)
◎ GEOS 385 - Geology of North America (3 credits)
GEOS 399 - Internship (1-3 credits)
GEOS 401 - Geological Field-Research Methods (2-4 credits)
GEOS 405 - Current Topics in Geosciences (1-4 credits)
◎ GEOS 416 - Advanced Geographic Information Systems (4 credits)
△ GEOS 470 - Geological Research Strategies (2 credits)
GEOS 499 - Directed Research-Geoscience (1-3 credits)

Laboratory Elective (4 credits)

Choose at least one:

GEOS 360 - Structural Geology (4 credits)
GEOS 365 - Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (4 credits)
△ GEOS 375 - Planetary Geology (4 credits)
△ GEOS 415 - Advanced Geomorphology (4 credits)
◆ GEOS 420 - Applied Hydrogeology (4 credits)
GEOS 435 - Optical Mineralogy and Petrology (4 credits)
△ GEOS 441 - Paleontology and Paleoecology (4 credits)
◆ GEOS 442 - Geophysics (4 credits)
◎ GEOS 443 - Global Water Resources (4 credits)
◆ GEOS 445 - Geochemistry (4 credits)

Course(s) Unique to Minor

WSU policy requires a minor contain at least one course unique to the minor and not used in major or additional requirements. See Degree Audit for details.

Legend

◎ = Oral Intensive

◆ = Math/Critical Analysis Intensive

△ = Writing Intensive

✽ = Physical Development and Wellness Graduation Requirement