If you are one my students advisees, you can book a meeting with me using this link.
Make sure to check out GEOL3500 and GEOL3200! These are courses that have research experiences built right into them. You will have fun and learn a lot about geology at the same time!
On this page:
- Selecting Courses for Your Geology Degree
- Getting Ready to Graduate?
- Undergraduate Research & Senior Thesis Option
- Preparing for Your Career
- Helpful Videos about the Geology Program
Selecting Courses for Your Geology Degree
Choosing classes can be overwhelming! Use the information below to help you choose a set of courses for your degree that meet the program requirements. A good starting place is to consider the example program given below. Most students will deviate from this plan a bit (or sometimes even a lot!), so it is ok if you need to move things around a bit. Keep in mind, however, that most Geology courses are only taught once per year.
Example 4 Year Course Schedule
Download an Excel version of this image here along with a course planning tool to help you make sure that you are on track for a timely graduation.
Note: This Excel planning tool is based on the program requirements for the 2020/21 Undergraduate Catalog. Please double check that your program requirements are the same if entered ECU under a different Catalog year.
Another important thing to keep in mind are the dependencies between classes due to prerequisites. If you take a look at the map of course dependencies below, you can see that GEOL3050/51 (Min/Pet) should be taken before many other courses. Since you need CHEM1150/51 and MATH1065 to take Min/Pet, it is important that you take those courses as early in your degree as possible (i.e., usually in your first year).
Download a pdf version of this image here.
Here are some other helpful links and resources for choosing classes:
- Geology Program Requirements: Geology BS Program Requirements for 2020/2021 Catalog*
- Catalog List of Geology Courses – find out what courses are offered at ECU
- ECU Schedule of Courses – find out what courses are actually being taught each semester
- Courses meeting ECU General Education Requirement for Natural Sciences
*Note: Make sure that you check what catalog year your program is following in Degree Works. To see requirements for different catalog years, use the drop down menu at the top of the catalog page.
Getting Ready to Graduate?
If you are ready to graduate this semester, please check this information provided by the Registrar’s Office to make sure that you haven’t missed anything!
https://registrar.ecu.edu/graduation-information/
Don’t forget that you need to apply to graduate!
Undergraduate Research & Work Experience
Taking part in research or other programs that give you work experience is a great way to learn more about geology and provide you with important experience working in an environment that can help you get into grad school or find a job. Sometimes research positions are paid an hourly wage, but many times you may wish to undertake research either for credit or as a voluntary activity to help build your skill sets or expose you to different areas of the geosciences.
What is undergraduate research? Typically you would work on a project to collect data or perform some type of analysis on data collected previously.
Different ways to get research experience include:
- Let professors in the department know that you are interested in working on a research project. They will be happy to talk with you!
- Consider doing a senior thesis project!
- Submit a proposal to get ECU funding for your own research through ECU’s URCA program or a WaterScholars project.
- Take part in a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). Learn more about CUREs at ECU at these two links:
- Apply to take part in a Research Experiences for Undergraduates summer program. These programs are funded by the National Science Foundation all around the country and provide an EXCELLENT stipend to take part in research. Check it out!
- Join the ECU Water Resources Center‘s group in Microsoft Teams (join code: shvq08r) to get all the announcements about opportunities or follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Check out the WaterCorps for paid positions providing great work experience that translates to the real world.