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Geological Sciences & Engineering

A Stong Foundation for Earth Sciences

For more information:

Department of Geology Website

At a glance:

Bachelors Degrees offered:

• Geology (also as minor)
• Geophysics (also as minor)
• Geological Engineering
• Hydrogeology (also as minor)

Advanced Degrees offered:

• Geology (MS, Ph.D.)
• Geological Engineering (MS)
• Geo-Engineering (Ph.D.)
• Geophysics (MS, Ph.D.)
• Hydrogeology (MS, Ph.D.)

Number of Faculty: 13

Current Students: 200

The Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering consists of 16 full-time teaching and research faculty. Several faculty hold joint appointments with the Seismological Laboratory. We also have 27 cooperating faculty from the Desert Research Institute, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Geological sciences faculty and students are active in both regional and international research programs. Field-related studies and research are among the strengths of our programs.

The University of Nevada, Reno is located near the boundary between the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada physiographic and geologic provinces, and is near many world-class localities for field studies, ranging from glaciated high country to high desert environments. Lake Tahoe and Yosemite, Great Basin, and Lassen Volcanic national parks are all within easy reach of Reno.

Laboratories and Facilities

We maintain field instrumentation for geologic, seismic, gravity, magnetic and electrical and rock properties studies - with many systems incorporating state-of-the-art technology. We also have one of the world's largest digitally recorded seismic networks.

Laboratories include: scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope, petrographic microscopy, reflected light microscopy, laser ablation ICP-MS, ICP-ES, stable isotope geochemistry, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, fluid inclusion facilities, paleomagnetism and rock magnetism, earthquake source modeling, conodont and radiolarian biostratigraphy, geographic information systems (GIS), computer graphics, computer modeling. These laboratories support research in geology, geochemistry, geophysics, hydrogeology, ore deposits, petrology, slope stability, rock mechanics and planetary sciences.