Career opportunities in the environmental and geological sciences are expanding rapidly, drawing on those disciplines that focus on earth materials and processes, such as geology, geophysics, geochemistry and hydrogeology. The geosciences major at Towson University provides students with a strong core in the natural sciences and, at this time, two programs in geosciences: geology and earth science. These programs prepare students for careers that include environmental geology, hydrogeology and teaching earth science. As Towson University embarks on an interdisciplinary major in environmental sciences and studies, the geosciences program will continue to grow, adding new tracks, concentrations and faculty.

Upper level courses in the geosciences major generally have low student-faculty ratios, providing the students with high quality instruction and encouragement from committed faculty as they develop problem-solving and ciritical-thinking skills. Independent research projects are an integral component of most of these courses, with students gaining useful experience by presenting and defending their work to a community of their peers. Alumni focus groups have cited this preparation as a particularly valuable aspect of their education at Towson. Field experiences are another critical aspect of all the geology courses, in which data are collected and analyzed to supplement textbook and laboratory learning.

A variety of interesting entry-level career opportunities await motivated graduates in geosciences. Environmental geologists and hydrogeologists with B.S. degrees conduct such work as:

The mineral industry hires geologists to design plans to mine rock material by determining an ore body's three-dimensional geometry.Energy companies need exploration and development geologists to locate and extract hydrocarbon deposits. Graduate studies prepare students to work in advanced fields such as volcanology, seismology or mineralogy. The geosciences program also prepares students to teach earth and environmental sciences in middle and secondary schools; the earth science track is designed specifically for this purpose.

Professional positions held by recent Towson graduates include environmental geologists working both in the private and public sectors, such as for the City of Baltimore and the Maryland Department of the Environment, mineral resource development geologists with quarrying firms, and a number of hydrogeologists employed by private consulting firms from Maryland to Colorado. Several have also successfully undertaken graduate studies in such fields of study as hydrogeochemistry, petrology and coastal engineering.

Curricula and Course Offerings

The Geology major contains a core of the fundamental earth sciences supplemented by essential mathematics and physical sciences. The upper level Geology classes are generally small, with both lecture and laboratory taught by faculty. The undergraduate educational experience is capped in the senior year by designing and completing a research project involving field and/or laboratory analyses. Depending on their course selections, geology majors are prepared to enter successful geotechnical careers in environmental geology or hydrogeology, to teach at the secondary level, or to attend graduate school. Students interested in teaching certification in Earth & Space Sciences should investigate Towson’s Earth-Space Sciences Major.

Geology Core Courses (47-49 credits)

Electives (12-16 additional credits)

Minor in Geology

Internships and Student Opportunities

• The Maryland Geological Survey (Baltimore, MD)
• The United States Geological Survey - Water Quality Division (Towson, MD)
• Redland-Genstar Quarry (Timonium, MD)
• Mantech Environmental Corporation (Laurel, MD)

Scholarships and monetary awards are available to students in the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences, including the Jess Fisher Scholarship and the Pelham Award. In the College of Science and Mathematics, students can compete for the Dean's Scholarship, or apply for national scholarships for science majors such as the Goldwater Award.

Resources

The Geosciences Program at Towson University maintains a petrographic microscope laboratory, rock preparation equipment, and an excellent teaching collection of rocks, minerals, and petrographic thin sections. Whole-rock chemical analysis can be performed using X-Ray diffraction equipment in the Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences and atomic absorption spectroscopy in the Department of Chemistry. A scanning electron microscope in the Department of Biological sciences may be used by students with the proper training. Equipment available for environmental monitoring includes a Hach uV-Vis DR-4010 spectrophotometer, portable water quality instrumentation, storm water samplers, pressure transducers for stream and ground water level montitoring, and a 14' Jon Boat w/ motor and sediement and water samplers

An array of geoscientific software is available on the computers in the geoscience classrooms and in the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences. Geographic Information Systems software and equipment is also accessible for geological applications in the geosciences area.

Location

Towson University is located in Maryland's Piedmont province near the fall zone. The campus sits atop the 1.1 billion year old Baltimore Gneiss, which underlies much of the Baltimore area. The campus is also bisected by Towson Run, which drains into Lake Roland and is part of the Jones Falls watershed. Towson Run's own watershed encompasses much of the Towson area north of Lake Avenue. The Geo-Sciences Department is located on the 4th Floor of Smith Hall, overlooking a branch of Towson Run and the scenic natural area of Towson's Campus known as "The Glen."

The campus is within an easy day's drive of many important geological features: the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, and Plateau provinces of the Eastern U.S. It's location offers students countless opportunities to observe the results of major geological events of the past and to study the processes currently shaping the surface of our Earth.

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