Geology and Geological Engineering Department

Contact Information

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

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 Faculty

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

Paleontology Faculty

Professors L. Anderson and Price; Assistant Professors Belanger and Pagnac; Associate Director and Instructor Shelton; Adjunct Faculty Bapst and Benton; Professors Emeritus Fox and Martin.

Geology and Geological Engineering Graduate Degree Programs

The Department of Geology and Geological Engineering offers advanced study in three degree programs:

M.S. degree in Paleontology
M.S. degree in Geology and Geological Engineering
Ph.D. degree in Geology and Geological Engineering.

Also available are:

Certificate in Geospatial Technology
Certificate in Petroleum Systems
Accelerated BS/MS Program

Students concentrating in paleontology at the Master’s level may apply for the separate M.S. in Paleontology. The MS and PhD in Geology and Geological Engineering each offer two specializations, one in geology and one in geological engineering, with different background requirements. Students wishing to focus on paleontology at the doctoral level enter the PhD in Geology and Geological Engineering (Geology specialization). The available coursework and current faculty expertise support the following areas of concentration.

1. Energy and Resources
2. Geocomputing
3. Groundwater and Environment
4. Paleontology
5. Petrology and Mineral Resources
6. Structural Geology and Tectonics
7. Underground Science and Engineering (SURF)

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 unite, a geotechnics laboratory, a 3D photogrammetric camera system, 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 system, 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 analystical capabilities. Computer programs are available for digital modeling of groundwater flow and contaminant migration, petroleum engineering, slope stability, geophysical applications, and geochemical modeling.

Certificate in Geospatial Technology

Students are eligible to receive a Certificate in Geospatial Technology by completing these four courses (twelve credits) in Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing at the 500 level: GEOL 416/416L/516/516L , GEOL 417/517 , GEOL 419/519 , GEOL 420/520 .

Certificate in Petroleum Systems

This program is geared toward graduate students and professionals with relevant BA/BS degrees in engineering and/or science who are looking to expand their skill sets in petroleum and related fields or to retool and retrain for a new career. Students must complete a minimum of 12 credits of course work from an approved list of courses to satisfy the certificate program requirements.  Complete information on requirements is given at Petroleum Systems Certificate .

Accelerated BS/MS Programs

Both MS programs 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. The accelerated BS/MS program is designed to permit qualified students to shorten the expected time to an MS degree by counting approved courses towards both the BS and MS degrees. Students entering the accelerated MS program must satisfy all requirements expected of traditional MS students, including writing and defending a thesis. The accelerated BS/MS program is governed by campus-wide policies as stated in the Graduate section of the catalog. The following additional guidelines and policies pertain to the accelerated programs within the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering.

1. The requirement that all graduate applicants take the GRE exam is waived for students applying to the Accelerated BS/MS program. However, the GRE is often used for student grant proposals, so all students are strongly encouraged to take the GRE in their senior year.
2. One letter of reference in the graduate application must be written by a department faculty member who agrees to become the student’s major professor if the student is admitted to the MS program. This agreement must be stated plainly in the letter of reference.
3. Up to nine credits of approved courses may be double-counted. To be double-counted, the courses must be GEOL or GEOE courses taken at the graduate level, which includes 400/500-level courses taken at the 500-level, or 600-level courses.
4. Accelerated students are not eligible to hold TA or RA appointments until after they have completed the BS degree. Only students who have taken the GRE are eligible for TA/RA appointments.
5. If the final cumulative GPA for the BS degree and the cumulative graduate GPA both fall below 3.0 at the time of completion of the BS degree, the department reserves the right to drop the student from the accelerated BS/MS program. In this case, the student may make a new application to be admitted to the regular MS program, but no double-counted courses will be permitted.

Background and Application Requirements for M.S. and Ph.D. Programs

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required of all applicants.  The TOEFL exam is required for students whose native language is not English. Many factors contribute to the success of an application, including the goals statement, previous coursework, grades, test scores, work experience, recommendations, and availability of a faculty member in the student’s anticipated research area. In general we prefer to see a GPA of 3.0 or above and GRE scores greater than the 50th percentile. Different specializations have different background coursework requirements, as described below.

Incoming students are expected to have substantial preparation in general science, math, and geological sciences; successful applicants will ideally have completed the subjects listed below.  The student’s graduate committee may require that deficiencies important to the student’s area of interest be remedied by taking additional undergraduate courses that will not count towards the graduate degree credit requirements.

• Calculus I and II
• Statistics
• General Chemistry I and II
• General Physics I and II, or General Biology I and II
• Stratigraphy/Sedimentation
• Petrology
• Structural Geology
• Field Geology

Incoming students are expected to have substantial preparation in science, math, geological sciences, and engineering; successful applicants will ideally have completed the subjects listed below.  The student’s graduate committee may require that deficiencies important to the student’s area of interest be remedied by taking additional undergraduate courses that will not count towards the graduate degree credit requirements.

• Calculus I, II, and III
• Differential Equations
• General Chemistry I and II
• General Physics I and II
• Stratigraphy/Sedimentation
• Petrology
• Structural Geology
• Statics
• Mechanics of Materials
• Fluid Mechanics, or Rock Mechanics

Degree Requirements for Graduate Programs

The MS degree programs require 30 credits total, including a minimum of 24 credits of coursework and 6 credits of research. No more than 15 of the credits may be at the 500-level or lower. An oral coursework examination and a thesis defense is required of all MS students. However, under special circumstances the department head may approve the use of the non-thesis option in the Geology and Geological Engineering MS program, which requires 32 credits of coursework and an oral coursework exam. The non-thesis option is not available in the MS in Paleontology program.

The PhD program requires seventy-two (72) credits, of which at least thirty-six (36) credits must be coursework. No more than 36 credits may be at the 500-level or lower. Students entering the PhD program with an MS degree may apply a total of 24 course credits and 6 research credits toward the PhD, with the approval of the student’s graduate committee. PhD students are required to complete a qualifying exam, a comprehensive exam and dissertation proposal, and a dissertation defense.

All students are required to take GEOL 700 /GEOE 700 Research Methods  in their first fall semester. Every student has a graduate committee which assists the student in developing a program of study suited to the student’s interests. Additional requirements are provided as follows.

MS in Paleontology  

MS in Geology and Geological Engineering  

PhD in Geology and Geological Engineering