Environmental Geoscience - Concord University

The Environmental Geosciences program offers a career-oriented, flexible major that merges geology with applied environmental science.

The Environmental Geosciences program at Concord University offers a career-oriented, flexible science bachelor's degree that merges traditional geology with applied environmental science. We have one of only three geology degree programs offered in West Virginia and the only one at a primarily undergraduate institution in the state.

Geoscientists find solutions to some of humanity's most challenging problems: finding and managing natural resources, reducing human loss and suffering from natural hazards and disasters, understanding environmental change on geologic and human time scales, and advising policy makers on scientific and environmental issues that affect society.

Students in the program frequently work closely with the geoscience faculty to complete one or more semesters of undergraduate research. Our innovative research in structural geology, earthquake geology, volcanology, and paleoclimate is funded by a variety of grants that allow students to travel with us to remote field settings including Greenland, the Colorado Rockies, and the Pacific Northwest. This research is also supported by facilities including our electron microprobe laboratory, micro-X-ray fluorescence lab, sample preparation lab, field geophysical equipment (e.g., ground penetrating radar), and polarizing microscopes.

Scientists with geoscience-related degrees are in high demand. In 2010, the average salary for geoscientists was $93,000, which was $27,000 more than the national average for other science occupations according to the American Geosciences Institute. By 2025, the US is projected to have a shortfall of more than 135,000 new geoscientists. The job outlook is very strong and more than 95% of our recent graduates have entered graduate school or found professional jobs soon after graduating, if not before.

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