The Department of Geosciences offers graduate work emphasizing applied aspects of the geosciences. Our graduates find rewarding, in-demand careers solving problems faced by our communities and answering questions about how Earth works. Among the industries employing our alumni are environmental consulting; geological engineering; local, state, and federal agencies; resource exploration; academia; and museums and research institutes.
Emphasis on Collaboration
The Department of Geosciences has distinguished itself as one of the best programs in the nation by placing an equivalent emphasis on teaching and scholarly research. The diversity of the faculty’s individual research areas is what makes the Department of Geosciences unique, but the harmony that exists among all of its faculty, students, and staff is what makes it successful. The most obvious indicator of any academic department’s success, however, is the quality of its students. Our graduate students are constantly collecting accolades in the field and have been extremely successful in research and scholarship. They collaborate together with faculty and publish cutting-edge research while also successfully competing for local and national scholarships, grants, and awards. After completing their study at UWM our students become ambassadors of our department; they continually secure postgraduate positions at other universities as well as highly coveted employment in industry, government and academia.
Graduate Advising
All graduate students must have a major professor (advisor) to oversee their progress and to supervise their research. Initial selection of potential major professors is generally related to research interests expressed in the application statements. Due to the eclectic nature of faculty research interests it’s very important for M.S. and Ph.D. students to determine their area of study early in their graduate career. Although we try to determine a faculty advisor during our admission process based on the shared interests in a student’s application this is not necessarily a permanent assignment. The more our applicants know about a faculty member’s research projects the easier these decisions are for everyone involved.
Feel free to contact any of our faculty regarding the courses they teach or the research they are conducting.