Geological Sciences Minor

Students majoring in another department may elect to pursue completion of a minor in geology.

Requirements

In addition to the program requirements listed below, students must:

  • take at least nine hours of their minor "core" requirements at UNC–Chapel Hill
  • earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the minor core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for minor or specific courses.

For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.

Core Requirements
Four EMES courses from the list of options below. 112
Total Hours12
1

 Only one course may be numbered less than 200.

EMES 68IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Soundscape of Our Planet3
EMES 72HIDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Field Geology of Eastern California3
EMES 76IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Energy Resources for a Hungry Planet3
EMES 77IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Volcanoes and Civilization: An Uneasy Coexistence3
EMES 79IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Coasts in Crisis3
EMES 89IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Special Topics 13
EMES 101
101L
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Planet Earth
and IDEAs in Action General Education logo Planet Earth Laboratory F
4
EMES 103
103L
IDEAs in Action General Education logo The Marine Environment
and IDEAs in Action General Education logo The Marine Environment Laboratory
4
EMES 200IDEAs in Action General Education logo The Solid Earth3
EMES 201IDEAs in Action General Education logo Earth's Surface: Processes, Landforms, and History3
EMES 203IDEAs in Action General Education logo Data Analysis for Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences3
EMES 221Geology of North America3
EMES 301Earth Materials: Minerals4
EMES 302Structural Geology4
EMES 303Sedimentology and Stratigraphy4
EMES 304Petrology and Plate Tectonics4
EMES 305Planetary Geology: Meteorites and Asteroids3
EMES 306IDEAs in Action General Education logo Earth Systems History3
EMES 310Coastal Environmental Change3
EMES 314IDEAs in Action General Education logo Earth Systems in a Changing World3
EMES 324
324L
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Water in Our World: Introduction to Hydrologic Science and Environmental Problems
and IDEAs in Action General Education logo Water in Our World Laboratory
4
EMES 395IDEAs in Action General Education logo Undergraduate Research in Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences 21-3
or EMES 396 Independent Study in Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences
EMES 405IDEAs in Action General Education logo Geochemistry3
EMES 406Introduction to Geophysics3
EMES 412IDEAs in Action General Education logo Principles and Methods of Teaching Earth Science4
EMES 414/ENEC 514Flood Hydrology: Models and Data Analysis3
EMES/ENEC 417Surface Processes and Landscape Evolution4
EMES/ANTH 421Archaeological Geology3
EMES 425Introduction to Field Geology3
EMES 431Major World Rivers and Global Change: From Mountains to the Sea3
EMES 432Paleoclimatology3
EMES/ENEC 435Principles of Environmental Consulting: Mechanics of Groundwater Flow3
EMES 436Geochemistry of Natural Waters3
EMES 438Principles of Seismology3
EMES 483Geologic and Oceanographic Applications of Geographical Information Systems4
EMES 485Summer Field Course in Geology3
EMES 486Summer Field Course in Geology3
EMES 501Geological Research Techniques3
EMES 504Advanced Petrology3
EMES 508Global Hydrology3
EMES/ENEC 511Stable Isotopes in the Environment3
EMES/ENEC 512Advanced Coastal Environmental Change3
EMES 520Data Analysis in the Earth Sciences3
EMES 525Inverse Theory: Advanced Data Analysis and Geophysical Modeling3
EMES 567Application of Plasma Mass Spectrometry in Earth and Environmental Sciences3
EMES 580Evolution of Earth's Surface Environment3
EMES 608Continuum Mechanics in the Earth Sciences3
EMES 655Recent Advances in Non-Traditional Stable Isotope Geochemistry3
GEOG 440/GEOL 502Earth Surface Processes3
F

FY-Launch class sections may be available. A FY-Launch section fulfills the same requirements as a standard section of that course, but also fulfills the FY-SEMINAR/FY-LAUNCH First-Year Foundations requirement. Students can search for FY-Launch sections in ConnectCarolina using the FY-LAUNCH attribute.

1

With permission, based on topic. 

2

Student must register for a minimum of 3 credit hours. No more than 3 credit hours may apply towards the minor. 

See the program page here for special opportunities.

Department of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences

Visit Program Website

Murray and Mitchell Halls

Chair

Eric Kirby

ekirby@unc.edu

Director of Graduate Studies

Adrian Marchetti

amarchet@email.unc.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Kevin Stewart

KGSTEWAR@email.unc.edu

Student Services Manager (Graduate)

Violet Anderson

vmanders@email.unc.edu

Student Services Manager (Undergraduate)

Heratia Brelland

heratiab@unc.edu