Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Undergraduate Programs

Department Majors

Geology

      If you want to understand the various processes at work within your planet and on its surface, consider becoming a Geology Major. By applying all fields of natural science to understanding Earth, you can join in the detective work of reconstructing Earth's history back to the beginning of the solar system and the foundations of our universe. 

      The Geology Major curriculum is both exciting and practical; it will prepare you for a variety of professions. You will learn how to interpret the dynamic Earth through a flexible arrangement of courses.  You will gain hands-on experience with fossils, rocks, minerals, maps, aerial photographs, and satellite images in the laboratory and on field trips.

     Discover how Geology helps us to understand and cope with natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami and landslides, and the detection and control of man-made pollution. You will see how geologists apply their skills in civil engineering, water management, and oil and mineral exploration. Geology holds the keys to understanding such diverse topics as biologic evolution and the origin of the moon. 

      A typical Geology Major will take one or two Geology courses in the first year, and on average, about two geology courses per year in subsequent years. Compressed schedules are possible for late deciders. We also offer courses for Geology Minors and for those who want to take Geology as part of a Joint Major (e.g., in combination with Environmental Studies). Classes are generally small and there is plenty of opportunity for discussion during and after classes. More about the Geology Major.

Honors Geology

Qualifying Students preparing for graduate study in the sciences should select the honors program.  This major requires a Senior Thesis, field experience, and 3 upper level geology courses in addition to the regular Geology Major Requirements. More about the Honors Geology program.

Paleobiology (a track in the Geology Major)

A pre-med or pre-paleobiology or pre-law track within the geology major where students get personal attention and work directly with researchers on cutting edge questions of life on Earth.  The interaction of biological and physical conditions in deep time shaped the current conditions on Earth.  Therefore, the field of paleontology has changed to paleobiology and is now developing into geobiology.  We are studying the past to understand the present and to predict the future.  This includes the hot topic of climate and global change.

The major consist of a balance of geology and biology courses and the pre-medical requirements.  An independent research project leads to the senior thesis.  Students in this major are eligible for a Penn Summer Research Stipend in Paleontology of up to $5,000.00 for the work on their senior thesis during the summer between their junior and senior years.  These stipends are given on a competitive basis and require that the student has selected a professor/researcher to work with and a thesis topic by February of his/her junior year.

Learn how to think like a diagnostician while gaining a fuller understanding of the enormous diversity of life on Earth.  Just as doctors use blood chemistries and CAT scans to deduce the medical condition of their patients, paleobiologists use image analysis and evolutionary theory to deduce the patterns of change in the biosphere. The Paleobiology major provides a great deal of flexibility for the student to explore his or her own interests.  Individual research projects are facilitated by the low student-faculty ratio.  Every year in February a one day Geobiology Symposium is held either in the Department of Earth & Environmental Science at Penn or the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.  These symposia bring together paleobiologists from the Mid-Atlantic region and students are encouraged to attend. More about this track.

Environmental Studies

Many contemporary problems of environmental quality are so complex that modern society and technology have not yet been able to coordinate efforts to reach satisfactory solutions. There is thus an urgent need for individuals to be well versed in one discipline (from the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, or applied fields) and able to apply that discipline directly to environmental problems. The program in Environmental Studies is designed to achieve an understanding of the breadth of contemporary environmental issues through a series of courses in Environmental Studies, while ensuring that each student pursues a purposeful course of study in some traditionally defined area of scholarship.

Graduates of the program are trained for professions directly and indirectly involved with problems of environmental quality.  Due to the interdisciplinary approach of the program, students go on to work in a variety of fields. Some remain in academics to pursue a Masters and/or Ph.D. Students with Biology or Health Sciences concentrations can go on to Medical School.  Students with a Political Science or International Relations concentration can go to Law School. Students with English concentrations have gone on to work for environmental magazines or to publish their own books.  Students have also pursued careers in Environmental Consulting, Politics, Education, the Park Service, Scientific Research and the Peace Corps.  These are but a few of the possibilities. More about the Environmental Studies major.....

Department Minors

Geology

The Geology Minor allows students to explore the subject in detail by taking 6 courses in the department. More about this minor...

Environmental Studies

The Environmental Studies Minor allows students to explore a specific subject in detail and how that subject relates to the environment by taking 4 courses in the Environmental Studies Major and 2 concentration courses. More about this minor...

University Minor

Organizations & Environmental Management

Increasingly, consideration of the impact of decisions on the external physical environment is an important factor for businesses and other organizations. The decisions involved may concern such issues as the placement and structure of facilities, the use of chemicals in the workplace and agriculture, the production of environmentally safe products, the usage of energy materials and supplies, and the disposal of waste products.  Recognizing the growing importance of the environment as a factor in organizational decision-making, the University offers a minor in Organizations and Environmental Management, which will allow students both to understand the nature of environmental constraints which face organizations and individuals in the modern world, and to understand how these constraints can be effectively considered as part of the decision-making process in for-profit and nonprofit organizations.  The minor includes courses from the Wharton School, the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), and the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), as detailed below. Students in any of the four undergraduate schools may elect to take the minor. Advising is done separately within each school. If you are a student in SAS, contact: Dr. Dmochowski. More about this minor...