Geology and Geological Engineering Department

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Contact Information

Dr. Laurie Anderson
Department of Geology and Geological Engineering
Mineral Industries 303
(605) 394-2461
E-mail: Laurie.Anderson@sdsmt.edu

Geological Engineering Faculty

Professor Stetler; Associate Professor Sawyer; Assistant Professors Katzenstein and Li; Professors Emeritus Davis and Rahn; Adjunct Faculty M. Anderson, Iles, and Roggenthen.

Geology Faculty

Professors L. Anderson, Duke, Masterlark, Price and Uzunlar; Assistant Professors Baran, Belanger, and Pagnac; Professors Emeritus Fox, Lisenbee, Martin, Paterson, and Redden; Adjunct Faculty Bapst, Benton and McCormick.

Geological Engineering

Geological engineers develop and conserve natural resources in ways useful to humankind.  The discipline encompasses diverse fields such as groundwater resources, subsurface contamination, slope stability, environmental site design, and mineral and petroleum exploration and production.

The geological engineering (GEOE) bachelor of science curriculum focuses on fundamentals of engineering, geology, and geological engineering with strong field and technical design components.  Course requirements emphasize professional competency in the areas of groundwater, environmental site planning and natural hazards, geomechanics and geotechnics, and fuels or minerals.  The engineering design experience includes a two-semester capstone sequence that builds upon and integrates previous coursework to prepare GEOE graduates for the professional practice of geological engineering. The bachelor of science program in geological engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org.

Instruction in geological engineering provides training at both the undergraduate and graduate levels through the Ph.D.

Geology (and includes Paleontology)

Students majoring in GEOL will earn a BS degree in Geology, which contains five career foci including environmental geology, geospatial technology, mineral resources, paleontology, and petroleum geology. Geologists study geologic process shaping Earth today and through its history to find natural resources, protect the environment, and mitigate geologic hazards. The GEOL program provides a strong background in the basic sciences and geosciences with an emphasis on technical training, research opportunities, and a broad range of field experiences. Courses use the magnificent geologic setting of the Black Hills and adjacent Badlands, and the extensive fossil and mineral specimens in the Museum of Geology. The GEOL degree includes both a geology field mapping course and a two-semester senior research experience. GEOL students train for careers in the geosciences including in environmental applications, mineral and petroleum exploration, paleontologic surveying, governmental agencies, museums, academic fields, teaching, and entrepreneurship.

Minor in Geology

Majors in other science and engineering disciplines may pursue a minor in geology by completing eighteen (18) credit hours of geology courses.  Complete information on requirements is given at Geology Minor .

Minor in Geospatial Technology

Geospatial technology is a rapidly expanding field that covers the management and analysis of a spatial data from many sources, such as satellites, airborne remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GIS), surveying, and more.  Complete information on requirements is given at Geospatial Technology Minor .

Minor in Petroleum Systems

The petroleum industry employs a wide variety of engineers and scientists and this interdiscplinary minor is available to students in any major interested in expanding their portfolio of coursework to include additional content relevant to the energy sector. Complete information on requirements is given at Petroleum Systems Minor .

Certificate in Geospatial Technology (Undergraduate)

A certificate in Geospatial Technology is available by completing these four courses (twelve credits) in Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing: GEOL 416/416L/516/516L , GEOL 417/517 , GEOL 419/519 , and GEOL 420/520 .

Geology and Geological Engineering Laboratories

The Department of Geology and Geological Engineering has laboratory facilities that include a groundwater laboratory with digital and analytical modeling capabilities, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) laboratory, the Petrel suite of programs for petroleum systems, an InSAR laboratory, a van-mounted Geoprobe unit, a geotechnics laboratory, a 3D photogrammetric camera systems, a ground-based LIDAR camera, an operational well field with data loggers and transducers, a geochemical sample prep lab, and labs for paleontology preparation and imaging. Instrumentation includes geophysical equipment, ground-probing radar, a hydrologic analysis systems, a portable wind tunnel, and a mobile drilling rig.

The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing Laboratory is a facility for generating and analyzing spatially-referenced digital information, including maps and remotely-sensed data. The computing facilities, including a computational geodynamics lab, are continually updated and contain high-speed computers with GIS and other analytical capabilities. Computer programs are available for digital modeling of groundwater flow and contaminant migration, petroleum engineering, slope stability, geophysical applications, and geochemical modeling.

Accelerated BS/MS Programs

The MS programs in geology and geological engineering and in paleontology both offer an accelerated BS/MS track open to students enrolled in the BS in Geology or BS in Geological Engineering at the SD School of Mines of Technology. Complete information on requirements is located in the Accelerated BS/MS Programs section of the GGE graduate programs page .

The Black Hills Natural Sciences Field Station

The Black Hills Natural Sciences Field Station functions in cooperation with universities from South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin with the purpose of providing summer field courses in the Black Hills and nearby areas, as well as overseas. Field courses in geology, geological engineering, paleontology, petroleum, and environmental science and engineering are offered.  The Field Station operates from multiplesites: School of Mines campus; Ranch A in the northern Black Hills of Wyoming; Death Valley, CA; Hawaii; Taskesti, Turkey; the city of Chennai and the Andaman Islands in India; the Himalayas of Nepal; Iceland; and the Galapagos Islands.

Geology and Geological Engineering Field Camps:

GEOL 410 Field Geology  - five (5) weeks (six (6) semester hours) - Ranch A, Wyoming

GEOL 410 Field Geology  - five (5) weeks (six (6) semester hours) — Taskesti, Turkey

GEOE 410 Engineering Field Geology  five (5) weeks (six (6) semester hours) - Rapid City, SD

GEOL 412/512 /GEOE 412/512  Science and Engineering Applications (3 to 6 semester hours), Rapid City - SD; Death Valley, CA; Hawaii; Taskesti - Turkey; Chennai/Andaman Islands– India; Himalayas, Nepal; Iceland; and the Galapagos Islands.

Paleontology Field Camps:

Further information on field camp opportunities may be obtained by calling (605) 394-2494, or going to the website: http://geologyfieldcamp.sdsmt.edu.  All deposit fees are non-refundable upon acceptance into the course.

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