Geology major solidifies passion for a versatile career in museum work
Rheo Hendrickson ’27, a geology major at The College of Wooster, became immersed in their dream career environment while working at the Andrews University […]
Overview
What kinds of jobs do geology majors get after graduating from The College of Wooster?
Geology graduates from Wooster go on to be geoscientists specializing in natural hazards, non-renewable and renewable energy, and water resources. They work for natural resource companies, consulting firms, and government agencies with job titles ranging from project manager and lab director to engineer and data analyst. Some go on to careers in science education in schools, national parks, museums, and non-profit organizations. Others pursue careers in communication as journalists, illustrators, and editors for media outlets, such as National Geographic. Many of our graduates make their way to top-tier graduate or professional programs to build careers in research, law, and more. Wooster ranks sixth among U.S. institutions where women doctorate recipients in the physical sciences earn bachelor’s degrees according to a 2019 report published by the Council of Independent Colleges based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics and National Science Foundation.
Geology at The College of Wooster
Geology majors focus on the physical planet and the interactions of Earth’s spheres over ‘deep’ time. The Earth is our classroom and our small, advanced classes feature field trips to world-class exposures of glaciated terrain and fossils. As early as their first year, students start conducting research in our state-of-the-art science and computing labs. Experiential learning is central to our program and many of our students participate in summer internships and research projects arranged by the college. All students at The College of Wooster complete independent study under the guidance of a faculty mentor. The research work culminates in a thesis delivered in the spring of senior year.
View 2022 Annual Report (PDF)Learn about Wooster’s STEM community through the STEM Success Initiative
Learn about Wooster’s STEM community through the STEM Success InitiativeFaculty & Staff
Meagen Pollock
Professor and Department Chair of Earth Sciences; Associate Dean for Experiential Learning
Timothy Siegenthaler
Instrument and Lab Tech/Machinist - Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Physics
Latest geology News
Wooster geology major excavates new insights from dinosaur teeth
For 120 years, researchers have studied dinosaur skeletons in the Hell Creek Formation, an iconic Late Cretaceous formation that spans throughout Montana, Wyoming, and […]
B-WISER summer camp offers girls opportunity to explore STEM fields
The B-WISER educational summer camp, a partnership between The College of Wooster and the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, will take place June 10-15, 2024. […]
APEX Fellowship | Hudson Davis
Major: Geology Class Year: 2024 Organization: Burpee Museum of Natural History I will join the Burpee Museum of Natural History as a field assistant, working […]
Major
The Earth Sciences Department offers two majors: geology and environmental geoscience. Both majors share a set of foundational science courses, followed by a selection of advanced courses in the Earth sciences or cross-listed disciplines that allow students to pursue their interests and goals. The geology major is a more traditional Earth science curriculum that prepares students for a variety of geoscience careers in fields ranging from paleontology and natural disasters to energy and natural resources.
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Minor
Students who want to build on their course of study with a minor that includes geology can opt to add a minor in Earth Sciences, which requires completion of six courses in geology and environmental geoscience.
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Independent Study
In their junior year, Geology and Environmental Geoscience majors undertake a Junior Independent Study (I.S.) project in close collaboration with their peers and a faculty mentor. Students study the concepts and techniques of Earth Science research to prepare for their senior I.S., a capstone experience that challenges them to design and pursue a research project that makes an original intellectual contribution to the geosciences. Because Earth Sciences are best learned by doing, majors often participate in extended field/lab work or a research program during the summer between their junior and senior years. In recent years, students have undertaken field studies in diverse places in the U.S. (Alaska, California, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington) and across the globe (Bahamas, Belize, British Columbia, Cyprus, Mongolia, Iceland, Israel, and western Europe). Our students have worked alongside researchers in labs at The Ohio State University, UNC Chapel Hill, UMass Amherst, and the American Museum of Natural History, among other institutions.
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Alumni
Geology graduates from Wooster go on to be geoscientists specializing in natural hazards, non-renewable and renewable energy, and water resources. They work for natural resource companies, consulting firms, and government agencies with job titles ranging from project manager and lab director to engineer and data analyst. Some go on to careers in science education in schools, national parks, museums, and non-profit organizations. Others pursue careers in communication as journalists, illustrators, and editors for media outlets, such as National Geographic. Many of our graduates make their way to top-tier graduate or professional programs to build careers in research, law, and more.
Related Articles
Lauren Vargo ’13 studies connections between glacier melt and climate change
Lauren Vargo ’13 came to The College of Wooster because she wanted the chance to take a wide variety of classes to figure out […]
Trinda Bedrossian ’69 captures 165 years of California’s geological history
Following the 150-year anniversary of the California Geological Survey (CGS), Trinda Bedrossian ’69, a geology major at The College of Wooster, felt inspired to […]
Geology alumna awarded fellowship for climate research
The research opportunities at Wooster prepared Sarah McGrath ’17 for her graduate studies
Geology alumna researches landslides after natural disasters
As a geologist for the United States Geological Survey, Kelli Baxstrom ’16 put much of the expertise learned from her time at The College […]
Lectures
The Richard G. Osgood, Jr., Memorial Lectureship in Geology
The Richard G. Osgood, Jr., Memorial Lectureship in Geology was endowed in 1981 by his three sons in memory of their father. Dr. Osgood was a paleontologist with an international reputation who taught at Wooster from 1967 until 1981. Funds from this endowment are used to bring a well-known scientist interested in paleontology and/or stratigraphy to the campus each year to lecture and meet with students.
Past Lecturers
- 2020 James White, College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder
- 2019 Alycia L. Stigall, Department of Geological Sciences, OHIO Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University
- 2018 Maureen Raymo, Bruce C. Heezen Lamont Research Professor, Lamont-Doherty Core Repository Director, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
- 2017 Rob Thieler, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
- 2016 Patrick O’Connor, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
- 2015 Scott White, University of South Carolina,
- 2014 Jessica Conroy (’03), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- 2013 Michael E. Mann, Penn State University
- 2012 George Davis (’64), The University of Arizona
- 2011 Dr. Susan Lozier, Duke University
- 2010 Dr. James W. Hagadorn, Amherst College
Lab Facilities
The Department of Earth Sciences is housed in Scovel Hall, one of Wooster’s most attractive buildings. Equipment available to earth sciences majors includes binocular and petrographic microscopes, a video system attached to a microscope, computers, photomicroscopes, zoom transfer stereoscope, fluid inclusion system, variable magnification scanning stereoscope, diamond saws and and rock grinding equipment, photography labs, thin-section machine, mapping projector, seismic station, and large sedimentological, paleontological and mineralogical collections. The earth sciences library holdings are unusually complete for a small college.
Paleontology
The paleontological facilities at Wooster include standard rock saws and grinders, along with Nikon microscopes, digital imaging systems, and fossil preparation tools. We also have extensive research collections, particularly for carbonate hardgrounds, ancient bioerosion, Ordovician invertebrates, and Jurassic limestones and fossils.
Sedimentology
Ohio is a wonderful place to pursue undergraduate research in sedimentology and stratigraphy through Wooster’s Independent Study program. The local rocks provide an excellent sample of Paleozoic paleoenvironments and rock types. Our equipment includes GPS devices, computers, digital imaging equipment, numerous Nikon petrographic and dissecting microscopes, and the standard rock preparation tools, such as saws, grinders, and thin-section machines.
Wooster Tree Ring Lab
Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the method of scientific dating based on the analysis of tree-ring growth patterns. The tree-rings extracted from old wood can be calendar-dated and thus we can determine the calendar date the tree was cut. The tree-ring series are also records of past drought. We are interested in sampling historical structures for their tree-ring records. Our goal is to assemble long tree-ring chronologies from oaks by sampling both living trees and old wood. The data will be used by us and others in modeling past droughts in Ohio and together with similar records across North America.
X-Ray Lab
The acquisition of an X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF) and an X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) was funded by the National Science Foundation to support Wooster’s robust undergraduate research program. In addition to providing our students with valuable hands-on analytical experience, we hope that the instruments will foster creative collaborations and interdisciplinary research. Please explore this site to learn more about the instruments, who we are, and the research possibilities.