Geology

A Wheaton geology education includes travel to areas of special scientific interest. Most courses feature day-long or weekend trips to Great Lakes and mid-continent region geological sites. Special field trips are planned to other regions of the country or abroad for course credit or extra-course experience.

The Wheaton College Science Station in the Black Hills of South Dakota provides a wide variety of opportunities for exploring and studying geology. Studies are not limited to the Black Hills, however. Field trips into Wyoming include visits to the Bighorn Mountains, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Park.

All of our faculty are published authors, with numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals, contributions to national scientific conferences, and book chapters. Faculty-student mentor relationships often result in productive and distinguished scholarship and student growth including research collaborations, frequent field experiences beyond the classroom, and trips to professional conferences.

Wheaton’s founder, Jonathan Blanchard, realized that a working knowledge of the earth is an integral part of Christian education, so Wheaton's first students in the 1860s were required to take introductory courses in geology and mineralogy. The continuation of this early commitment has made Wheaton the oldest and most prominent undergraduate geology program among the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

Learning to conduct research begins in the classroom and laboratory. Many courses require students to create and complete a research project, scaled to the level of the course. Students are encouraged to gain further experience in more advanced geoscience research, which may involve collaboration with Wheaton College faculty or scientists at other institutions. There are many ways to accomplish this: 

• Independent or collaborative study projects with faculty for credit

• Research during a summer internship at Wheaton College or another university or research institution (museum, national park, state or federal government lab or agency, etc.) often with financial stipend

• Participation in a global studies program, such as Wheaton's Human Needs and Global Resources (HNGR)

Every year geology majors participate in national geoscience conferences to share their research projects and connect with scholars, professionals, and students at other institutions. You'll have access to our robust network of alumni and friends of the department in the professional geoscience and global development communities.

LEARN MORE ABOUT RESEARCH AND MEETINGS

• Summer Research Internships: Many students pursue summer research internships at major research universities and government laboratories (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) or through the Wheaton College Summer Researcher program. Includes stipend and typically housing.
• Teaching Assistant: Assist professor or instructors in lab sections of introductory or major courses (paid).
• Clubs: Many geology majors are involved in Geoclub to plan events for geology majors or the creation care group A Rocha. Others have participated in the annual student spring break trip to Honduras to install gravity-fed water systems for rural community development.
• Study Abroad: International study programs involve a semester or summer at a university or research site. Although programs for geology study are limited, students have completed semesters in New Zealand, England and Germany. Geology majors may apply to participate in the Human Needs and Global Resources certificate with a summer plus semester international experiential and research project internship.

Students take a Geology minor if they are interested in the geosciences and choose courses that interest them or enhance vocational interests.