See Also
Undergraduate Programs in Geological Sciences with information on majors, minors, and other options..
Description of 100-level courses that fulfill the N&M (Natural and Mathematical sciences) requirement.
Graduate Programs in Geological Sciences: M.S. and Ph.D.
Courses – Undergraduate & Graduate
Undergraduate Courses
The Department offers introductory 100-level courses in general geology and in specialized aspects of geological sciences, which all 3 cr. that meet N & M distribution requirements. Other 100-level and 200-level classes are foundation courses required for the geology major. Advanced undergraduate courses include further core courses for the major plus many topics as electives. These offerings also can be taken to fulfill requirements for a minor in geology or specialized courses for students in science education.
Introductory [100 to 200-level]
| G103 | Earth Science: Materials and Processes | Brophy/Dunning | Fall/Spring |
| G104 | Evolution of the Earth | Brassell/Millen | Fall/Spring |
| G105 | Earth, Our Habitable Planet | Pratt/Douglas | Fall/Spring |
| G111 | Physical Geology | Brophy | Fall |
| G112 | Historical Geology | Polly | Spring |
| G114 | Dinosaurs and Their Relatives | Johnson | Fall |
| G116 | Our Planet and Its Future | Dunning | Fall/Spring |
| G121 | Meteorites and Planets | Basu | Fall/Spring |
| G131 | Oceans and Our Global Environment | Staff | Fall/Spring |
| G141 | Topics: Earthquakes and Volcanoes | Hamburger/Brophy | Fall/Spring |
| G171 | Environmental Geology | Douglas/Zhu | Fall/Spring |
| G190 | Volcanoes Seminar | Hamburger | Spring |
| G221 | Introductory Mineralogy | Bish | Fall |
| G222 | Introduction to Petrology | Wintsch | Spring |
| G225 | Earth Materials | Ripley | Fall |
| H205 | Honors Topics: Theory of the Earth | Basu | Fall or Spring |
| H205 | Honors Topics: Geology of Sculptors' Material | Basu | Spring |
| H205 | Honors Topics: Gas Prices and Petroleum Geology | Basu | Fall/Spring |
Advanced [300 to 400-level]
| G302 | Development of the Global Environment | Staff | Spring |
| G323 | Structural Geology | K. Johnson | Spring |
| G334 | Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy | Pratt/Polly | Fall |
| G399 | Reading for Honors | Brassell | Spring/Fall |
| G404 | Geobiology | Johnson | Fall |
| G406 | Introduction to Geochemistry | Brophy | Fall |
| G410 | Undergraduate Research in Geology | Brassell | Spring/Fall |
| G415 | Principles of Geomorphology | Olyphant | Fall |
| G416 | Economic Geology | Ripley | Spring/Fall |
| G417 | Optical Mineralogy | Ripley | Fall |
| G418 | Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology | Staff | Fall |
| G420 | Regional Geology Field Trip | Wintsch | Spring |
| G423 | Methods in Applied Geophysics | Pavlis | Spring |
| G424 | Geological Applications of GIS | Letsinger/Olyphant | Spring |
| G427 | X-ray Mineralogy | Bish | Spring |
| G444 | Methods in Analytical Geochemistry | Elswick | Fall |
| G451 | Principles of Hydrogeology | Zhu | Fall |
| G490 | Undergraduate Seminar | Staff | Spring |
| G499 | Honors Research in Geology | Brassell | Fall/Spring |
See Also
Graduate Programs in Geological Sciences with information on M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, curriculum and admissions.
Graduate Courses
The Department offers graduate courses relevant to our varied research programs. Specific courses pertinent to particular research themes are listed in the brochures for each area accessible from the research page. Graduate credit is also available for many 400-level senior classes as preparation for advanced 500-level and 600-level coursework. Students also take research credits within both M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs, often complemented with topical seminars.
Graduate Level Courses
| G504 | Metamorphic Petrology | Wintsch | Arr |
| G513 | Seismology | Pavlis | Fall |
| G514 | Geophysical Signal Analysis | Pavlis | Spring |
| G515 | Analysis of Earthquake Seismograms | Hamburger | Fall |
| G520 | Mechanics for Earth Sciences | K. Johnson | Fall |
| G524 | Carbonate Facies and Environments | Keith | Arr |
| G550 | Surface-water Hydrology | Olyphant | Fall |
| G554 | Fundamentals of Plate Tectonics | Hamburger | Spring |
| G561 | Paleoecology | Staff | Arr |
| G571 | Principles of Petroleum Geology | Staff | Arr |
| G572 | Basin Analysis and Hydrocarbons | Keith | Arr |
| G581 | Surficial Processes | Olyphant | Fall |
| G582 | Computational Methods in Geology | Faculty | Arr |
| G583 | Isotope Systematics | Ripley/Pratt | Spring |
| G584 | Geological Applications of GIS | Letsinger/Olyphant | Spring |
| G586 | Geochemical Modeling | Zhu | Fall |
| G587 | Organic Geochemistry | Brassell | Arr |
| G589 | Geomicrobiology | Pratt | Arr |
| G591 | Physical Sedimentology | Staff | Arr |
| G599 | Master's Research | Stafff | Arr |
| G600 | Advanced Techniques | Staff | Fall/Spring |
| G600 | Advanced Techniques -Xray | Staff | Arr |
| G600 | Advanced Techniques - Practical Geobiology | C. Johnson | Spring |
| G600 | Advanced Techniques - Geometric Morphometrics | Polly | Spring |
| G600 | Electron Microprobe Analyses | Li | Spring |
| G601 | Clay Mineralogy | Bish | Fall |
| G612 | Inverse Methods in Geophysics | Pavlis | Arr |
| G616 | Metalliferous Mineral Deposits | Ripley | Arr |
| G685 | Evolution of Ecosystems | C. Johnson | Spring |
Graduate Level - Seminars and Topical Courses
| G633 | Advanced Geophysics Seminar | faculty | Arr |
| G637 | Seminar in Tectonics | faculty | Fall |
| G690 | Proterozoic Sedimentary Basins | Basu | |
| G690 | Advanced Geology Seminar | Brassell | Fall/Spring |
| G690 | Advanced Mineralogy Seminar | Bish | Fall/Spring |
| G690 | Carbonate Petrology Lab | Faculty | Fall |
| G690 | CO2 Sequestration | Faculty | Spring |
| G690 | Computational Methods | Polly | Fall |
| G690 | Evolutionaly Ecosystems | Polly | Spring |
| G690 | Evolutionary Paleontology | Polly | Spring |
| G690 | Geospatial Data Analysis | Faculty | Arr |
| G690 | Magmatic and Hydrothermal Processes | Ripley/Brophy | Arr |
| G690 | Methods in Analytical Geochemistry | Elswick | Fall |
| G690 | Origin of Plyla | Brassell | Spring |
| G690 | Paleoclimatology | Faculty | Arr |
| G690 | Research in Geological Sciences | Faculty | Arr |
| G690 | Tectonics of Asia | Faculty | Arr |
| G690 | Terrestrial Stratigraphy | Faculty | Arr |
| G690 | Crustal Deformation | K. Johnson | Spring |
| G700 | Advanced Finite Element Seminar | Faculty | Arr |
| G700 | AnthroBioGeo Seminar | Faculty | Arr |
| G700 | Cosmochemistry | Pratt | Spring/Fall |
| G700 | Development of the Global Environment | Brassell | Spring |
| G700 | Geobiology | C. Johnson/Polly | Fall |
| G700 | Geologic Problems | Brassell | Spring/Fall |
| G700 | Magmatic Ore Geochemistry | Ripley | Arr |
| G700 | Mantle Processes | Faculty | Arr |
| G700 | Quaternary Paleontology | Faculty | Arr |
| G700 | Proterozoic Sedimentary Basins | Basu | Spring |
| G700 | Sedimentology and Stratigraphy | Pratt/Polly | Fall |
| G700 | Structural Geology | Douglas | Spring |
| G700 | Structural Petrology | Faculty | Arr |
Graduate Level - Research
| G810 | Advanced Research | Arr | Fall/Spring |
| G901 | Advanced Research | Arr | Fall/Spring |
Field Courses
400-level and 300-level field courses are taught during the summer at our Field Station in Montana. In addition, field trips represent an integral component of many courses (see Map). For 100-level classes they tend to be local excursions. At 200-level and 300-level (e.g. mineralogy, perology, sedimentology) they include visits to relevant more distant localities, and each year a 400-level regional field trips is offered.
