The Department of Geosciences stands in solidarity with our university and college in the recognition of longstanding inequity and discrimination and is committed to advocating for and building a just and equitable future.

Our mission is to achieve excellence in teaching, research, service, and outreach. Our curriculum prepares students for careers in geosciences, including basic and applied research, and the management of geological resources, hence providing a comprehensive approach to the study of geosciences.

Research, service, and outreach activities emphasize physical and chemical earth processes affecting the Earth’s interior and surface, as well as human intervention to solve environmental and resource management problems. We seek to become a major center for research and teaching in the understanding of geological processes, and the identification and management of geological resources and environmental problems.

The Department of Geosciences offers a Bachelor of Science degree with concentrations in Geology, Environmental Geology, Geophysics, and Hydrogeology, as well as M.S. in Geosciences and Ph.D. degrees in Earth Sciences (with Geosciences and Watershed Science specializations).

The department capitalizes on its proximity to the Rocky Mountains, Colorado High Plains, and intermontane basins to give students unique regional educational opportunities in outdoor laboratories as well as in up-to-date classrooms and laboratory settings.  Faculty and students also pursue field work and analyze and interpret data from the Arctic to the Tropics, to Antarctica.

Geoscience degrees allow students to obtain a sound academic and practical background for careers in areas such as economic geology, petroleum geology, geochemistry, geomorphology, geophysics, hydrogeology, sedimentology, seismology, structural geology and mineralogy.

The high degree of professional preparedness provided by our degree programs is reflected in the success of our graduates in obtaining positions in resources industries, environmental consulting firms and government resource management and regulatory agencies including the Forest Service, Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. National Laboratories, and the U.S. Geological Survey. Many students apply their undergraduate academic preparation to enter graduate school or other professional degree programs.

Our M.S. and Ph.D. programs are internationally renowned, and the completion of a graduate degree provides excellent professional preparation for a career in governmental agencies, private industry, teaching, or research. Our strong placement record and extensive network of highly successful and engaged alumni attest to the quality and relevance of the graduate programs.