Geoscience

The Department of Geoscience is an active and enthusiastic department consisting of eighteen full-time faculty, approximately sixty graduate students and one hundred undergraduate majors. The department offers a program of courses, seminars and research opportunities leading to Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Geoscience. The interests of the faculty and students cover a wide range of topics. Graduate students can choose one of three Geoscience emphases: Geology, Hydrogeology, and Soil Science. Active research by faculty and students is ongoing throughout the western United States, as well as in Antarctica, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Indonesia, France, Guatemala, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and Switzerland.

The department encourages interdisciplinary research. Opportunities for geological and interdisciplinary research may be pursued with organizations near, or on, campus that cooperate with the department including: the Harry Reid Center (HRC) for Environmental Studies; the Division of Hydrologic Sciences of the Desert Research Institute (DRI), a division of the University and Community College System of Nevada; the Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the Department of Energy; and other university departments and schools such as life sciences, chemistry, physics, and engineering.

Students are encouraged to read the general graduate college rules and regulations elsewhere in this catalog and to read the Department of Geoscience Graduate Student Guidelines, which are available on the department’s web site at: http://geoscience.unlv.edu/graduateprogram.htm. An understanding of these documents is essential for satisfactory progress toward the degree.

Terry Spell, Ph.D., Chair
Matthew Lachniet, Ph.D., Graduate Coordinator  

Program Information 

Geoscience Faculty 

Geoscience Courses 

Department Website

Plans 

Master of Science - Geoscience 

Doctor of Philosophy - Geoscience