Geosciences
Photo: Department of Geosciences
The intellectual excitement of modern earth sciences is fueled by our exploration of the dynamic forces that shape our planet and the delicate balances that have rendered it conducive to life for much of its history. These forces and balances link subjects as diverse as the evolution of continents, global climate change, and biological evolution. They also influence our daily lives in surprising and compelling ways. Many of the grand challenges facing humanity in the foreseeable future, including global warming, energy and resource depletion, and groundwater contamination, involve processes that are studied by geoscientists. Geoscience offers undergraduates the refreshing combination of a solid curriculum in the sciences and an opportunity to do leading research in a number of fields, all within a relatively small, close-knit department. Class sizes are small, and this allows for a stimulating, well-paced, and intimate environment. Our graduates have gone on to graduate school in the sciences or medicine, to careers in industries or agencies involved in extracting or conserving our natural resources, and to careers in law, business, public policy, government, or diplomacy.
What Students Say
• What is geosciences?
• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being a geosciences major?
• What are common misconceptions about geosciences majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have majors had?
• How will geosciences majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date a geosciences major?
• What can you learn from it?
• What is it like being a geosciences major?
• What are common misconceptions about geosciences majors?
• What kind of internships and international experiences have majors had?
• How will geosciences majors save the world?
• Why would anyone want to date a geosciences major?
Geosciences is an all-encompassing term that includes all applications of science to studying the Earth. Thus, geosciences utilize biology, chemistry, physics, geology, and mathematics to study everything from the oceans, to the atmosphere, to landforms, to geologic history, to natural disasters, to the Earth's interior, to.... the list is truly exhaustive. Therefore, scientists with titles such as geochemist or geophysicist or geobiologist are quite common.
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What can you learn from it?There are a number of paths that can be taken within the geosciences department, and while these are in many ways tailored based on a student's interests, there are a few already prescribed:
Solid earth geology deals primarily with rock-forming minerals and processes. It includes areas such as mineralogy, sedimentology and stratigraphy, igneous and sedimentary petrology, and structural geology. (This is where the idea of geo majors only studying rocks comes from).
Environmental geochemistry. This area includes atmospheric, oceanic, and soil chemistry. Essentially it is the study of the fate of chemical species in the three aforementioned areas. As a subcategory to this field, geobiology is gaining increasing prominence as the study of the intersection of biological, chemical, and geological processes.
Atmospheric and oceanic sciences deals with atmospheric and ocean circulation and therefore includes studies of climate, weather, and ocean nutrient and mineral cycling.
Geophysics is the study of the Earth based on quantitative observation and includes the study of seismic, electromagnetic, and radioactivity phenomena. Geophysics is especially applicable to planetary science.
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What is it like being a geosciences major?
The geosciences department might actually be considered a medium-sized department based on the number of faculty and students overall (graduate and undergraduate), but on average there are probably only 5-8 geo majors a year. With that said, the geosciences department is fantastic, for the professors are easy to approach and talk to and always make the time to meet with students.
Students are required to complete two JPs, one for fall and one for spring semester, with the first generally being some form of literature review and the second being either experiment-based or model-based. Since there are few undergraduates compared to other departments, it is fairly easy to find an adviser with whom one wants to work. The grading of a JP takes into account three aspects: the grade for the paper from one's adviser; the grade from a second reader; and a grade from the faculty based on one's presentation on his/her thesis (10 min for presentation, 5 min for questions). The process for the senior thesis is similar except that the thesis is only one long experiment-based or model-based paper.
The geosciences department at Princeton is easily one of the best in the country, for it has some of the greatest minds in the geosciences field. Its appeal is that with its interdisciplinary nature, it is possible to tailor one's course schedule to one's personal interests. Thus, if a person is having trouble deciding between the core sciences such as biology, chemistry, and physics, geosciences is a great department for combining such disciplines into one program of study. Combining such freedom with professors and administrators who are always willing and able to help, one realizes the caliber of the geosciences department.
The most common misconception about geosciences majors is that all they study is rocks. While petrology (study of rocks) is undoubtedly an important field in geosciences and is useful in sub-disciplines such as sedimentology and structural geology, it is not all that geosciences involves. Geosciences is probably the most interdisciplinary of the sciences in that it encompasses chemistry, biology, physics in addition to geology in order to describe the Earth — both the visible and internal Earth. Thus, while any geoscience major realizes the importance of a rock, you may be surprised what else a geo major can tell you about.
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A number of courses in the geosciences department have a field component and this often means traveling internationally. In addition, thesis research often requires significant travel as well. Therefore, majors have traveled to a number of places including the Bahamas, Bermuda, Mexico, Canada, South America, Africa, Asia ... in other words, every continent (maybe even Antarctica). However, one cannot discount the travel within our very own U.S. of A. Geo majors have traveled to places such as Montana (field camp, Yellowstone, etc.), California, and New Mexico just to name a few. If one factors in the opportunities outside of the department that having a geosciences education can afford a major, then the sky's the limit in terms of travel. The geosciences department is often labeled as the one that "offers all of the trips" and it is indeed so.
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Geosciences majors will save the world by informing people of how the Earth is like a machine that can be perturbed from normal functioning if not properly taken care of. The Earth is not impervious to what man decides to do to it. Our actions have consequences (although these consequences are more adequately measured on geologic time scales rather than on those of the average lifetime). Hopefully, we'll not only save the world, but the people on it as well....
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1. Geologists travel the world over to study its various aspects, and if you're lucky, you might be invited to tag along.
2. Gems (i.e. diamonds, emeralds, rubies, etc.) are rocks too!
3. Geologists are sexy! It's not easy to climb a mountain if you're not in shape!