The Geology minor provides skills that enable students to obtain employment in a wide variety of fields which include: geological resource mapping, energy exploration, environmental engineering and site remediation, urban and regional planning and geohazard assessment. Combined with geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing skills, students gain experience in field-based studies as well as cutting edge technology. Small upper-level class size, active academic advising, superb laboratory facilities and rich field experiences contribute to academic success. Students work with faculty on research projects ranging from Central Wisconsin, Big Bend Texas, Hawaii to Morocco. The 22-credit Geology minor is intended to be used in conjunction with other disciplines and is most commonly combined with a major in Geography, Geoscience, Water Resources or Soil Science. The minor offers students the flexibility to take a traditional sequence of geology courses or a combination of traditional and techniques courses in geology, geography and biology. The minor also complements majors in chemistry, biology, wildlife, forestry and education and would be of interest to students in hydrogeology, soil mapping, natural resource exploration or site remediation.

Government agencies such as the United States Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and state natural resource and geological agencies as well as private consulting and insurance companies, among others, all seek employees with geoscience expertise.

Geography Minor Requirements (22 crs.)

Required Courses:
Geology 104 Physical Geology Introduction to study of minerals and rocks and processes which act upon and within the earth. Geology 106 Earth History Development of the earth through time. Geology 200 Mineralogy and Petrology Origin and classification of common rocks and minerals with emphasis on hand sample identification. Geology 310 Sedimentary Geology Origin, evolution, and classification of sedimentary rocks and surficial deposits; modern and ancient depositional systems, stratigraphic principles; resource significance of sedimentary deposits.	Geology 320 Structural Geology Analysis of rock deformation features such as folds, faults and shear zones, their tectonic significance. Geology/Geography 352 Geomorphology Characteristics, origin, and development of landforms.OR Geology 370 Glacial Geology Origin and development of glacial features and related phenomena over the last three million years.

Additional credits selected from following courses to total 22 crs.
Geology 330 Environmental Geology Apply geological principles to understand and solve problems associated with human interaction with the physical environment, including soil and rock mechanics, slope stability, land subsidence, earthquakes, coastal erosion, and resource extraction. Geology 335 Climate: Past, Present, and Future Explore the physical and theoretical underpinnings of climate change science. Field and laboratory methods combined with computer model simulations are used to investigate ther geological and biological evidence of past, present and future climate including global worming and its impacts. Geology 352* Geomorphology Characteristics, origin, and development of landforms. Geology 370* Glacial Geology Origin and development of glacial features and related phenomena over the last three million years. Geology 383 Hydrogeology Hydrologic budgets, occurrence and movement of groundwater in flow net analysis, well hydraulics and interpretation of aquifer pumping tests, well head protection. Geology 391 Special Topics	Geology 393** Field Trip in Geology Observe geological phenomena; readings, field notebook and/or report. May repeat for credit with change in locale or topic. Geology 395 Directed Study Students may arrange for directed study of a geological topic with cons instr. Geology 479 Contaminant Hydrogeology Physical and chemical processes affecting behavior and transportation of groundwater contaminants; apply contaminant transportation models; monitor and remediate groundwater contamination. Geology 487 Groundwater Geochemistry Factors and processes controlling the chemistry of subsurface waters including mineral solubility, complexation, redox reactions, ion exchange, and absorption; hydrochemical behavior of contaminants. Geology 495 Application of Computer Modeling to Hydrogeology Introduction to computer modeling; emphasis on modeling theory, groundwater flow and particle tracking models. Geography 279 Introduction to Cartography: Map Conceptualization and Development The map production process, including rationale, graphic structure, data collection and organization, map layout, and final production.	Geography 352* Geomorphology Characteristics, origin, and development of landforms. Geography 377 Remote Sensing I Characteristics of aerial photographs and digital imagery. Use remote sensing materials to conduct resource inventories, and land use evaluation, and landform analysis. Geography 390 Applied Statistics in Geography Survey geographic problems and quantitative problem solving methods; create or extract relevant data sets from published geographic resources; apply, interpret, and present appropriate spatial and nonspatial statistics. Geography 393** Field Trip in Geography Observe physical and cultural phenomena; required readings, field notebook and/or report. May repeat for credit with change in locale or topic. Geography 476 Geographic Information Systems I Develop, use and maintain a geographic-based spatial information system (GIS) for resource management. Acquire and assess spatial data. Compare raster and vector data models. Computer-based geographic data handling, analysis, interpretation, and display. Cartographic and spatial modeling. Biology 311 General Principles of Organic Evolution Natural patterns (variation, classification, phylogeny, biogeography) and processes (genetic drift, natural selection, adaptation, speciation) that underlie the origin and diversification of life on earth. Philosophy of science and history of evolutionary theory. Character evolution and human evolutionary biology.

* Whichever course not taken in fulfillment of the required course

** Max of 3 crs.