About Our Undergraduate Geoscience Faculty
Going Far with Help of Professor Farnsworth and Alumni
"I went to California with Professor Katie Farnsworth for a research project on sediment transport in the river systems on the coastline. It was so awesome. And my plane ticket was paid through alumni donations."
Samantha Ritzer, Class of 2014, Geology, Environmental Track; accepted into graduate program with teaching assistantship at Virginia Tech
Bringing Experience, Scholarship and Balance to the Classroom and Site
The Geoscience Department is made up of eight full-time professors whose diverse specialties and backgrounds provide students with the expertise and scholarship they will need to develop into professional geoscientists.
Many professors collaborate with energy and environmental industries, for private companies as well as for government agencies. They all conduct rigorous research within their specialties, which include watershed management, deep ocean sediment, global climate change, earthquakes, paleontology, and even Mars.
Because the program is relatively small, our professors are able and committed to developing close, collaborative relationships with their students, involving you with their own research, introducing you to new experiences in laboratory and field research and helping you find the right track to pursue. All of this will serve you well once you leave IUP and pursue your career.
- Our professors' first priority is teaching. While they publish books and papers with leading academic presses and highly regarded journals, their focus is always on teaching their students.
- All geoscience majors work closely with an academic advisor from the Geoscience Department to plan your coursework and connect you with those opportunities that are most suited to your career path.
- While there is no formal internship requirement, all Geology majors are required to complete a thesis research project before graduation. You'll work closely with one or more faculty members to develop and design your project, collect and interpret data, then present your results during our annual Geoscience Day conference.