Geoscience Department
Questions? Contact Us.
Dr. Jim Belcher
- Department Head / Associate Professor
- Jim.Belcher@uafs.edu
- 479-788-7968
- Math-Science 313
Explore the world from the ground up with a degree in geoscience.
The demand for professional geoscientists is driven by our growing need for energy production, environmental protection, safe construction practices, and responsible land and resource management. The Bachelor of Science in geoscience prepares you for entry-level positions in the environmental, engineering, or energy resource industries or entry into graduate-level geology degree programs.
Concentrations
The geoscience programs has two areas of concentration: professional geology and environmental geology. The professional geology concentration comprises the traditional courses needed to pursue a career in industry or enter a graduate geology program. The environmental geology concentration requires courses in geographic information systems (GIS) and organic chemistry. Students in the environmental geology concentration earn a minor and a technical certificate of proficiency in GIS in addition to the B.S. degree.
Undergraduate Research
UAFS geoscience faculty oversee a bustling undergraduate research program. Our students routinely present at professional meetings, and some of them have shared authorship on peer-reviewed publications. Attendance at national conferences provides our students the opportunity to network with industry leaders and potential graduate school advisors. We are working to acquire equipment to support student and faculty research in mineralogy, petrology, sedimentology, structural geology, GIS, and paleontology. The program currently houses a Shimadzu X-ray diffractometer and a set of Leica petrographic microscopes in addition to a rock sample preparation laboratory with equipment to make thin sections.
Retention and Placement
The geosciences program has a retention rate of more than 90 percent and an 89-percent placement rate within a geoscience career or graduate school. Graduates of the program have gone on to work with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, Crater of Diamonds State Park, and various consulting firms. Other graduates have received graduate placements at universities such as Auburn, Mississippi State, Buffalo, and Northern Arizona. Additionally, more than $100,000 in scholarships have been awarded to geoscience majors in the last five years.