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Independent Study Projects

Students wishing to complete an Independent Study Projects must meet a minimum of requirements, obtain permission from the Undergraduate Program Director, and have a Faculty Advisor agree to supervise the project.  If approved, they may register for 01:460:493: Independent Study in Geology for 1 to 3 credits. Students are required to complete 3-hours of work per credit, per week for the entire semester to earn a satisfactory grade in the course.

Honors in Earth and Planetary Science

Students may be admitted to candidacy for honors in geology if they make a written application to the department chairperson before May 1 of their junior year. To qualify, a student must have a minimum overall cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 and a minimum grade-point average in major courses of 3.4. In addition, the student must have completed all geology core courses except 01:460:410 and 01:460:476/480.

  • 01:460:495 (3) Honors in Geology - Fall
  • 01:460:496 (3) Honors in Geology - Spring

Honors students must successfully complete at least two additional 3-credit courses in geology (at the 400 level) and/or in the allied sciences as well as 01:460:495,496 Honors in Geology.
In consultation with a faculty adviser, students choose an honors research project which they document in a paper or a formal presentation to the department.

 

Recent Honors Theses

(email missing info to Dr. Lauren Neitzke Adamo)

Year Student Thesis Title Advisor(s)
2023 Jason Kawalec Dangerous While Asleep: Applying UAV-facilitated Photogrammetry to the Dormant Barva Volcano Lauren Neitzke Adamo
2021 Lucia Bellino Presence of Hydrothermal Mineral Alteration in the Eridania Basin on Mars: Implications for Serpentinization, Magnetization, and Habitability Lujendra Ojha 
2020 Mariya Galochkina Intensification of the North Atlantic subtropical thermocline during the Mid Miocene climate transition Kenneth Miller, Maria Makarova, James Browning, James Wright
2020 Sophie Benaroya Reconstructing Miocene sea surface, thermocline, and deep-water temperatures in the North Atlantic, Site 608 Kenneth Miller, Maria Makarova, James Browning, James Wright
2019 Christian Rowan Geologic controls on fossil distribution and recovery in the vertebrate fossil record: a case study from Koobi Fora, Kenya Craig Feibel
2015 Michael Klaser Lithospheric inventory: An exploration of Quebec, Canada with P-to-S receiver functions   Vadim Levin
2014 Sean
Kinney
Influence of mechanical stratigraphy on the development of thrust faults and associated secondary structures: A scaled experimental approach Martha Withjack, Roy Schlische
2013 Corie
Hlavaty
Geological, social and political factors affecting carbon capture and sequestration deployment:
The case of the proposed PurGen One power plant in Linden, New Jersey
Robert Kopp, Kenneth Miller