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School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Queens College, City University of New York

The school offers a program leading to the Master of Arts degree in Geology and participates in the City University Doctorate program. The school’s location provides abundant space for laboratories and equipment. Cooperative research projects exist with the American Museum of Natural History, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and the Smithsonian Institution.
PROGRAM FOR THE MASTER OF ARTS AND MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREES

Requirements for Matriculation (in addition to the College requirements for admission)

  1. The Department requires that all students have taken a course in Physical Geology and a course in Historical Geology. However, recognizing that undergraduates may have studied in many different fields of earth sciences, additional expected undergraduate training may be in a broad array of subjects, including most of the following:Minerals; Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic petrography; Surficial processes/geomorphology; Sedimentation and stratigraphy; Structural geology and earth internal processes; Oceanography, climatology; Evolution and paleontology; Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Ecology; Field geology (an approved field course)
The Departmental Graduate Committee may waive the above requirements – except Physical Geology and Historical Geology – for students with a strong background in science who may wish to pursue studies in special fields such as hydrology, geophysics, geochemistry, or environmental sciences.
  1. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE), verbal and quantitative, with official scores submitted to the department.
  2. Differential and integral college calculus, two semesters of college physics and two semesters of college chemistry. College biology may be substituted for one semester of physics if appropriate.
  3. Students may be accepted with deficiencies in mathematics or allied sciences but must remove those deficiencies by taking the necessary undergraduate courses without credit. Deficiencies must be removed before the student may proceed beyond 12 credits of graduate work in geology.
  4. Advanced standing (not exceeding 12 credits) may be granted to students who have taken graduate courses in geology at other institutions with a minimum grade of B or the equivalent.

Requirements for the Master of Arts in Geology

These requirements are in addition to the general requirements for the Master of Arts degree.
  1. Residence: A minimum of two full semesters, and 18 credits of coursework in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Queens College.
  2. Satisfactory completion of an approved course of study for a minimum total of 30 credits in graduate geology courses (700 or higher), including a thesis. Individual programs are organized to permit specialization in most areas of geology and related earth sciences. Unless they have an undergraduate geology major, students must take Geology 701 and Geology 702 during their first year.
A student’s advisory committee, established in the first year, must approve his/her individualized course of study. At the discretion of the committee and the Graduate Advisor, courses in other science departments may be included in the course of study.
  1. Thesis: The thesis problem and mentor must be approved by the Departmental Graduate Committee, which will also certify the acceptance of the completed thesis.
  2. Upon receipt of confirmation from the student’s Advisory Committee that the program of study, thesis and thesis defense have been completed, the Graduate Advisor will certify to the Office of Graduate Studies that the student is qualified to receive her/his degree.
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Requirements for the Master of Science in Environmental Geoscience

Requirements for Matriculation (in addition to the College requirements for admission)

  1. Residence: A minimum of two full Semesters, and 18 credits of coursework in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Queens College.
  2. Satisfactory completion of the following curriculum of coursework: 30 credits, and a 6 credit internship. In exceptional cases, some courses may be waived because of transfer credits or professional experience. In addition, unless they have an undergraduate geology major, students must take Geology 701 and Geology 702 during their first year.
  1. Environmental Geosciences Core Courses
    GEOL 745 Hydrology or GEOL 746 Groundwater Hydrology
    GEOL 762 Shallow Subsurface Geophysics
    GEOL 763 Geographic Information Systems
    GEOL 760 Environmental Geochemistry
  2. Environmental Geosciences Methods Courses
    GEOL 761 Field Methods in Hydrology
    GEOL 767 Field Techniques in Environmental Sciences
    GEOL 766 Analytical Techn. in Env. Geosciences
  3. Three Elective courses from among the following, to which others may be added:
    GEOL 742 Stratigraphy
    GEOL 750 Environmental Geology
    GEOL 747 Coastal and Estuarine Geology
    GEOL 768 Soils, Wetlands and Bioremediation
    GEOL 764 Contaminant Hydrogeology
    GEOL 765 Surficial Processes
  4. Internship
    GEOL 788.6 Cooperative Education Placement – this semester or summer-long internship is in lieu of a thesis project and must be arranged with an organization, firm or agency in which hands-on experience is obtained. A program of internship work must be approved by the departmental internship committee and representative(s) of the internship organization. A substantive final report must be prepared and presented by the student.
  1. Certification: The student’s advisors shall oversee the internship work and shall certify to the Office of Graduate Studies the satisfactory completion of all academic requirements for the Master of Science degree by the candidate.
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