Program Description

Geology is the study of the Earth and our neighboring planets in space, their composition, processes, and history. The degrees offered are the Bachelor of Arts, the Bachelor of Science, and the Master of Science in Geology. A minor in Geology is also available. The curriculum includes basic courses in geology and other cognate subjects and provides for independent research, field application, and Environmental Studies, when desired.

The curriculum and courses offered in Geology stress the physical framework of the environment and its relationships to organisms and to man. The University is located in an excellent geologic area with easy access to several mountain ranges, deserts, oil fields, agricultural areas, and the Pacific Coast.

At the completion of their Geology degree programs students will have basic knowledge and understanding of the content of modern geology, will have acquired knowledge and demonstrated skills to collect and analyze Earth’s minerals and rocks, and will understand the philosophical, mathematical and physical science foundations of geology.

Graduates with degrees in Geology have excellent employment opportunities both locally and elsewhere in petroleum and minerals exploration, water resources, environmental applications, land use, and waste disposal management. The degree program also provides a strong foundation for secondary school science teaching or graduate study in geology and environmental science. Students planning on attending graduate school are advised to pursue the BS degree as the course work for this degree, particularly the cognate courses, generally represents the minimum requirements for acceptance into a graduate program, including the Master of Science program in Geology at CSUB. Visit our website at: http://www.csub.edu/geology.

The Department of Geological Sciences offers two tracks leading to a major in Geology and one track leading to a minor for a major in another field:

• Bachelor of Science in Geology
• Bachelor of Arts in Geology
• Minor in Geology

 

CSUB has developed a degree program, the Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences, to prepare prospective science teachers for subject matter certification in California via the California Subject Matter Examinations for Teachers (CSET) in Science. See the catalog section under Natural Sciences for information about this degree program. Additional information may be obtained from the Geological Sciences Department office (661- 654-3027).

 

Course List

Code	Title	Units
General Education Requirements
First-Year Seminar (FYS)		2
Lower Division Area A: Foundational Skills		9
Lower Division Area B: Natural Sciences 5		3
Lower Division Area C: Arts and Humanities		6
Lower Division Area D: Social and Behavioral Sciences		3
Lower Division Area E: Student Enrichment and Lifelong Learning (SELF) 6		0
Lower Division Area F: Ethnic Studies		3
American Institutions: Government and History		6
Junior Year Diversity & Reflection (JYDR)		3
Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR)		3
Upper Division Thematic Area C and D		6
General Education Capstone 5		0
General Education Subtotal 7		44
Major Requirements 1
Lower Division
GEOL 2010	Physical Geology	4
GEOL 2040	Historical Geology	4
Upper Division
GEOL 3000	Mineralogy and Petrology	4
GEOL 3010	Fundamentals of Geochemistry	4
GEOL 3040	Sedimentology and Stratigraphy	4
GEOL 3060	Applied Geochemistry	4
GEOL 3070	Structural Geology	4
GEOL 3090	Principles of Geophysics	4
GEOL 4090	Field Course in Geology 2	5
GEOL 4200	Professional Development for BA-BS Students	2
GEOL 4908	Senior Field Seminar	4
A minimum of twelve additional GEOL units above 3000-level, 3 units of which must be at the 4000-level 3		12
GEOL 3011	Natural History of National Parks
GEOL 3031	Plate Tectonics
GEOL 3050	Geological Oceanography
GEOL 3080	Geomorphology
GEOL 3339	Dinosaurs: Paleoecology, Evolution and Extinction
GEOL 4010	Hydrogeology
GEOL 4020	Environmental Geochemistry
GEOL 4030	Lithospheric Geodynamics
GEOL 4050	GIS for Natural Sciences
GEOL 4060	Fundamentals of Petroleum Exploration and Production
GEOL 4070	Sequence Stratigraphy
GEOL 4080	Physical Volcanology
GEOL 4110	Clay Mineralogy
GEOL 4150	Applied GIS
GEOL 4170	Well Log Analysis
GEOL 4770	Special Topics in Geology
GEOL 4771	Special Topics in Geology 2
Cognates
CHEM 1000	Foundations of Chemistry	3
or 1010
or EQUIVALENT
MATH 2010	Calculus for the Biological and Chemical Sciences I	4
or MATH 2310	Single Variable Calculus I for Engineers
or MATH 2510	Single Variable Calculus I
PHYS 2110	College Physics I	4
or PHYS 2210	Physics for Scientists and Engineers I
Major Subtotal		66
Additional Units Needed Towards Graduation		10
Total Units		120

¹

The minimum acceptable GPA for these 66 units is 2.0

²

GEOL 4090 Field Course in Geology is generally taken during the Summer following the senior year.

³

GEOL 3310 Integrated Science: Earth Science, GEOL 3318 California Geology and Society, and GEOL 3328 Water and the West are General Education courses intended for non-majors and do not count toward degree requirements); at least 3 units must be GEOL 4000  or above. Graduate level classes may be substituted with advisor approval.

⁴

Or equivalent

⁵

Area B1 satisfied in major and cognates, B4 satisfied in cognates, and Capstone satisfied in major

⁶

The SELF requirement is met by completing a LD C or D course with a SELF component.

⁷

Some General Education requirements are included in major. 

The following additional courses are strongly recommended for students planning graduate studies:

Course List

Code	Title	Units
CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600	Foundations of Analytical Chemistry and Foundations of Physical Chemistry	2
MATH 2020	Calculus for Biological & Chemical Sciences II	4
or MATH 2320	Single Variable Calculus II for Engineers
or MATH 2520	Single Variable Calculus II
PHYS 2120	College Physics II	4
or PHYS 2220	Physics for Scientists and Engineers II
Total Units		10

Note: One semester unit normally represents 50 minutes of lecture or 150 minutes of laboratory study. For every unit, students are expected to devote 2-3 hours of outside study per week.