An appreciation of the processes that operate in the interior of the Earth and on its surface is necessary to understand volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, landslides, and pollution. From glaciers to gemstones, rivers to mountains, and earthquakes to lava flows, geologists and environmental scientists investigate the Earth’s features, how they have formed and evolved, and the ongoing processes that affect the Earth today.

The Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences (G&EG) offers an extensive set of courses that cover surficial processes, the Earth’s interior, and environmental problems. Three courses of study are offered, ranging from an A.B. program that provides maximum flexibility in designing an individualized curriculum to more structured B.S. programs for students headed to graduate school or the environmental workplace.

Whether you plan to pursue a career as a professional geologist, environmental scientist, environmental lawyer, or environmental manager, the department has a program well suited to each of these goals.

Students in the A.B. program are encouraged to double major. Some have combined G&EG with government and law for environmental law, or with economics and business in preparation for an M.B.A. leading to environmental management. The department also offers a minor.

Students are trained to evaluate scientific problems, not only through numerous field trips, but also through project-based field and laboratory experiences. They are taught to make careful observations, record those observations, and interpret them using critical analysis of multiple working hypotheses.

The department features state-of-the-art computer hardware and software, as well as the full range of equipment used for geological study. Students learn to formulate and effectively communicate both oral and written solutions to the scientific problems they study.

The professional, yet informal, atmosphere for which the department is widely recognized commonly leads to lifelong friendships between faculty and students. Good times and collaborative work are fondly remembered long after graduation.

Special Opportunities

Field and laboratory experiences are an integral part of geologic and environmental studies. All courses include field trips and other experiences that bring the Earth to life.

On-campus geology courses take advantage of the varied local geologic environment through field trips, student field projects, and independent study and thesis research. The department maintains a well-field at Lafayette’s Metzgar Fields to monitor groundwater and a stream-monitoring network on the Bushkill Creek watershed adjacent to campus for hydrologic studies. Students in the hydrogeology class measure streamflow in multiple locations to determine seepage of surface water into groundwater, and evaluate groundwater in the Bushkill Creek watershed to learn how bedrock geology affects water quality.

The department also offers three fascinating courses in Hawaii, Bahamas, and western national parks during interim sessions. Both majors and non-majors may enroll in these courses offered in alternate years: coral reefs and caves in the Bahamas; volcanoes, coastal processes, and landform evolution in the Hawaiian Islands; and geology in 11 national parks in Arizona and Utah.

Students also have the opportunity to participate in the Semester in Environmental Science at Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Mass. The program is dedicated to the study of ecological systems and provides opportunities for intensive hands-on academic inquiry. Students work in the laboratory and field investigating forests, ponds, and estuaries on Cape Cod, culminating with their own research project.

Department majors are encouraged to participate in independent research and/or a senior year thesis. Such research has taken students to Alaska, Nevada, the Canadian Rockies, Cambridge University (England), France, and Mexico in addition to numerous localities nearer the college.

Excellent Facilities

The department is located in Van Wickle Hall, architecturally one of the most distinctive buildings on campus. The building includes two “smart” laboratories and a lecture hall. These technology-enhanced classrooms are equipped with presentation tools that are used in a variety of ways to enhance teaching and learning. A student computer lab in the building includes both Macintosh and Windows-based desktop computers.

A recirculating hydraulics flume is used to study river behavior in a laboratory setting. The flume, 1.75 meters (5 feet) wide and 9 meters (28 feet) long, was designed with maximum versatility and, among other things, can be used to study sediment transport or to create miniature rivers and drainage networks.

Other facilities include an X-ray diffractometer, and hydrologic, optical, and fluid inclusion equipment; a complete array of geophysical equipment, including a 24-channel seismometer, two gravimeters, an earth resistivity meter, and a magnetometer; a sedigraph automated particle size analyzer; GIS-based surveying equipment; an automated solvent extraction system and a gas chromatograph for the analysis of organic compounds to aid in paleoclimatological reconstruction; pneumatic fossil preparation equipment; trinocular boom arm stereomicroscopy and imaging for the analysis of large geological and fossil specimens; and a collection of mineral specimens and fossils. Students have full access to facilities at all hours.

After Graduation

Among geology and environmental geosciences majors graduating 2004-06, 64 percent accepted full-time jobs, and 36 percent went to graduate schools such as the University of Colorado at Boulder, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, University of  Texas at Austin, the Universities of New York at both Stony Brook and Binghamton, Lehigh University, and Pace Law School. In the last few years, graduates also have gone on to master’s or doctoral programs at University of Virginia, Arizona State University, Binghamton University, Syracuse University, University of Vermont, Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado, and University of California at Santa Barbara.

Graduates have accepted jobs as geologists, environmental geoscientists, gemologists, geophysicists, high school science teachers, mineral and oil consultants, research scientists, soil engineers, technicians, university professors, water pollution control specialists, doctors, and lawyers. Employers include Accenture, Baker, Bluestone Environmental Services, Earth Data NE, ExxonMobil, Hart Environmental Management Corporation, HydroGeophysics, Layne Drilling Company, Lycott Environmental Research, New Jersey Conservation Commission, O’Brien & Gere, R&G Engineers, Raytheon Corporation, Recon Environmental Corporation, Texas Instruments, United States Geological Survey, and Weston Solutions.

Faculty and Staff

Dru Germanoski, Dr. Ervin R. VanArtsdalen ’35 Professor of Geology and Department Head. Ph.D., Colorado State University. Special interests: earth surficial processes, (geomorphology), environmental geology, hydrogeology, fluvial geomorphology, and fluvial sedimentology. Recipient of the Student Government Superior Teaching Award, the Jones Faculty Lecture Award for distinguished teaching and scholarship, Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award, and VanArtsdalen Prize for outstanding scholarly achievement.

Guy L. Hovis, John H. Markle Professor. Ph.D., Harvard University. Special interests: mineralogy, thermodynamic properties of earth materials, X-ray powder diffraction, solution calorimetry, and high-temperature geochemistry. Recipient of the Jones Faculty Lecture Award for distinguished teaching and scholarship, the Jones Award for teaching and scholarship, and the Van Artsdalen Prize for outstanding scholarly achievement.

Kira Lawrence, Assistant Professor. Ph.D., Brown University. Special interests: paleoclimatology and paleoceanography, earth systems history, influence of Milankovich Cycles on late Cenozoic climate, glaciation of the northern hemisphere, alkenone paleothermometry, and paleoproductivity.

Lawrence L. Malinconico Jr., (Home Page), Associate Professor. Ph.D., Dartmouth College. Special interests: applied geophysical, tectonic, structural, and environmental studies; volcanology; and computer applications in geology. Recipient of the Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award, Aaron O. Hoff Organization Adviser of the Year Award, and Daniel L. Golden Class of 1934 Faculty Service Award.

David Sunderlin, Assistant Professor. Ph.D., University of Chicago. Special interests: paleontology and paleoecology, stratigraphy and basin analysis, terrestrial ecosystem evolution, islands and biotic effects of isolation, paleoenvironments, and geology of Alaska.

John R. Wilson, Laboratory Coordinator. M.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Special interests: igneous processes, high-temperature geochemistry and U/Pb geochronology; Appalachian geology; and the integration of geology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Dru Germanoski
Head, Geology and Environmental Geoscience
(610) 330-5196
germanod@lafayette.edu

For general information:
Office of admissions
Lafayette College
Easton, PA 18042
(610) 330-5100
FAX (610) 330-5355
admissions@lafayette.edu