Geology, M.S.

California State University, Fresno

The US Dept of Educationdesignates Fresno State as both a Hispanic-Serving and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (largely due to Hmong students). Our tenured and tenure-track faculty cover disciplines in both environmental and geosciences, supplemented by 3 full-time and many part-time lecturers covering mostly general education courses. The Geology M.S. Program is a traditional thesis-required degree. We award about 4 M.S. degrees/year, trending upwards, with the largest fraction of program graduates entering the workforce in geological consulting or as government sector scientists. A smaller fraction go on to Ph.D. programs.The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences offers graduate courses and research leading to the Master of Science. The graduate courses and research areas are such that several different career goals can be met, including the following: (1) preparation for enrollment in a Ph.D. program in geology or a related field, (2) preparation for employment as a professional geoscientist with industry or government, and (3) advancement of knowledge of the earth sciences and teaching skills of secondary school and junior college teachers. Graduate research opportunities are available in several fields, including but not restricted to hydrology/hydrogeology/hydrogeochemistry, stream restoration, geophysics, tectonics, engineering geology, geomorphology, structural geology, volcanology/igneous and metamorphic petrology, sedimentology/paleontology/stratigraphy, paleoclimatology and high temperature, and stable isotope geochemistry.

College of Science and Mathematics