Department of Geosciences
Faculty
Professors: Carlos L. V. Aiken, David E. Dunn (emeritus),William I.
Manton, George A. McMechan, Richard M. Mitterer, John S.
Oldow, Emile A. Pessagno, Jr. (emeritus), Dean C. Presnall (emeritus),
Robert H. Rutford (emeritus), Robert J. Stern
Associate Professors: Thomas H. Brikowski, James L. Carter (emeritus),
John F. Ferguson
Senior Lecturers: William R. Griffin, Ingnacio Pujana
Objectives
The basic objective of the
Department of Geosciences Graduate Program is to provide students with a broad
fundamental background in geosciences as well as an in-depth emphasis in a
particular specialty.
The Master of Science degree (thesis
option) is designed for students desiring research experience in a specific
area of the geosciences. This degree will prepare the student for professional
employment in the energy, mining, or environmental industries or government, as
well as those seeking a doctoral degree. The Master of Science degrees
(non-thesis options) are designed for students who seek employment in the
energy, mining, or environmental industries, and the industrial application of
Geospatial Information Sciences (GIS).
The Doctor of Philosophy degree in
Geosciences emphasizes basic research in one of the specialties in geosciences
and is designed to prepare students for advanced positions in the energy,
environmental or mining professions in industry or government, or for positions
in academia.
The Doctor of Philosophy degree in
Geospatial Information Sciences (GIS) is supported by the Department of
Geosciences, the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, and the
School of Engineering and Computer Science. The degree reflects
geospatial information science origins at the confluence of work in multiple
disciplines. The degree focuses on advancement of the technology, its
associated theory, and the enhancement of its applications. Graduates of
this program will be well suited to advanced positions in the geospatial
technology industry and academic positions.
Facilities
Departmental research facilities
include: digital imaging petrographic microscope, rock preparation and mineral separation
facilities, electronics shop and machine shop. Separate research facilities for computing,
hydrology, thermal ionization mass spectrometry, and geophysics are described
below.
Computing
Facilities
The Geosciences Department has a
large number of networked Windows/PC and unix/linux workstations in several
laboratories accessible to the students and faculty. A number of laser
printers are available, including a color printer. A large format HP 2500CP printer/plotter
is available for creating maps and posters. A variety of software
licenses are supported for GIS, remote sensing, image processing, geophysical
data processing, graphics and visualization. Large scale computing is
supported by two state of the art linux clusters, one with 10 and one with
32 64-bit processors, and 13 terabytes of disk. A GeoWall visualization facility permits immersive interaction with
3-D data.
Hydrology
Laboratory
Field equipment for measuring ground
and surface water flow and chemistry, including borehole bailers, electric
water level meter, FlowProbe hand-held flow meter, Hach DREL 2010 Basic Water Quality Lab
(field spectrophotometer, pH and salinity meters), and YSI-85
DO/salinity/conductivity meter. Software for modeling water flow and transport, including
general interfaces GMS andWMS, Hydrus-2D (unsaturated flow and transport),
TOUGH2 and Tetrad (2-3D multiphase flow and transport), and many public-domain
models. Hardware and software for
visualizing model results, including Windows and linux workstations.
Geochemical
Laboratories
A Perkin-Elmer 6100 DRC ICP-MS and
Perkin-Elmer 3300DV ICP-OES are used for determining concentrations of a wide
range of elements in materials. A Finnigan MAT 261 equipped with 9 collectors and a secondary electron
multiplier is supported by Class 100 clean room facilities with sub-boiling
acid distillation apparatus, micro- and semi-microbalances, and vessels for
pressure decomposition of refractory silicates. Studies focus on using the
evolution of Sr, Nd and Pb as indexes of petrogenetic processes,
geochronology, environmental Pb, and evolution
of marine Sr.
Geophysics
Facilities
Geophysical research is supported by
two Scintrex CG5 Gravimeters a Micro-g FG5 absolute gravimeter; a
variety of surveying instruments including a Nikon theodolite and data collector, a TOPCON GPT 3005LW total station
electronic distance meter and theodolite, two Laser Atlanta Advantage CI reflectorless laser rangefinders, a Riegl LMP 3800 laser scanner
and a Riegl LSM Z620 laser scanner, six dual frequency Leica 530 RTK GPS systems (4 receivers), three dual frequency
Topcon HyperLite RTK GPS systems (6 receivers), nine dual frequence Leica
SR9500 GPS receiver systems with choke-ring antennas, a Trimble GeoXT
GPS system, a Trimble GeoHT GPS system and GPS post-processing software including Leica
SKI and Trimble Pathfinder Office. A Geometrics proton-procession total
field magnetometer system, An AGI SuperSting R1/IP DC
resistivity and induced polarization system is available for near surface
electrical conductivity mapping. Seismic and radar equipment include a
Bison 9048 48-channel floating point seismic acquisition system with Betsy,
hammer, and explosive sources for shallow to deep exploration; and pulse EKKO
IV and 1000 ground penetrating radars.
Admission
Requirements
The
University’s general admission requirements are discussed here.
Applicants are expected to take the
GRE General Test (Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing). A combined
score of no less than 1000 on the Verbal and Quantitative portions of the exam
is advisable based on our experience with student success in the program. In
addition, students should complete and submit a Supplemental Geosciences
Application Form which can be obtained from the Geosciences Department Office
by mail (FO21, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Rd, Richardson,
TX, 75080, USA), telephone (972-883-2401), or e-mail ([email protected]).
Entering students are expected to
have completed the equivalent of the University’s B.S. degree in Geosciences,
as well as a 3-hour scientific programming course. Students whose undergraduate
training is in a science other than geology or geophysics are admitted to the
program when their previous course work complements or supports their intended
research interests. Students may be admitted with some deficiencies but these
must be completed during the first 18 graduate hours. It is understood that the
minimum course requirements for the intended degree, as specified below, apply
to well-prepared students.
Degree
Requirements
The
University’s general degree requirements are discussed here.
Additional requirements are
specified below for each degree.
Graduate Certificate in Remote Sensing
The Remote Sensing Certificate is
supported by the Department of Geosciences and the School of Economic,
Political and Policy Sciences.
The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (1997) defined remote sensing as the
art, science, and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical
objects and the environment, through the process of recording, measuring and
interpreting imagery and digital representation of energy patterns derived from
non-contact sensor systems.
Remote sensing is a powerful set of
software and hardware, computer-based techniques for extraction and
presentation of information represented by raster and vector spatial data
acquired via non-contact sensors. It provides reliable and cost-effective means
of studying the environment for protection, natural resources management and
urban planning. Government and non-government organizations continuously seek
qualified professionals to use remote sensing for a wide range of applications.
Pre-requisites
and Admission
•
B.S. or B.A. Degree. Competence in
personal computers, especially Windows-based, is expected.
•
Application for admission to UTD
Graduate School as "non-degree or degree seeking"
•
Only B.S. or B.A. transcripts are
needed. No GRE score, or reference letters are needed for non-degree seeking
students.
•
On-line registration is at: www.utdallas.edu/admissions
Course
Requirements
The Graduate Certificate in Remote
Sensing is obtained by completing 15 hours of courses. Students must complete
the following courses: GEOS 5325 Introduction to Remote Sensing, GISC 6381
Introduction to GIS, GEOS 5326 or GISC 7365 Remote Sensing Digital Image
Processing, GISC 7366 Applied Remote Sensing and GEOS 7327 or GISC 7367 Remote
Sensing Workshop.
Master
of Science in Geosciences
Thesis
Option
All students seeking the Master of
Science degree (thesis option) must satisfactorily complete the following
requirements (a minimum of 36 graduate semester hours):
In addition to the above
requirements, students seeking the M.S. degree (thesis option) must submit, no
later than the second semester of enrollment, an acceptable degree plan and a research
proposal to their supervising committee. Upon completion of the thesis
research, the M.S. degree candidate will publicly defend the thesis.
Non-Thesis
Option
All students seeking the Master of
Science degree (non-thesis option) must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 36
graduate semester hours
including the specified Geosciences courses
below.
In addition to the above
requirements, students seeking the M.S. degree (non-thesis option) must submit,
no later than the second semester of enrollment, an acceptable degree plan.
Master of Science in Geographic Information Sciences
The Master of Science in Geographic
Information Sciences is a professional program that is offered jointly by the
School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences and the School of Natural
Sciences and Mathematics. The program focuses on the use of Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) and associated technologies such as remote sensing
and global positioning systems for managing spatially referenced information.
Students are provided with the concepts underlying GIS, the skills for
implementing GIS projects in public and private sector organizations, and the
ability to use GIS in pure or applied research in substantive areas.
Prospective students should apply using established procedures to either Geosciences or the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences
depending on their background.
For the Master’s degree in
Geographic Information Sciences, beginning students are expected to have
completed college Mathematics through Calculus and at least one programming or
computer applications course or possess equivalent knowledge. Students must have
the equivalent of GISC 6381 Geographic Information Systems Fundamentals and
GISC 6382 Applied GIS, or they must take these courses at UTD in addition to
the 30 credit hours required for the MGIS. Additional details of the
curriculum can be found under "Master of Science in Geographic Information
Sciences," in the School of Social Sciences section of the catalog.
Doctor of Philosophy in Geosciences
All students seeking a Doctor of
Philosophy degree in Geosciences must satisfactorily complete the following requirements
(90 graduate hours minimum).
In addition to the above course
requirements, students seeking the Ph.D. degree must submit an acceptable degree
plan and research proposal describing the intended project to be completed for
the dissertation. Students entering with a Master’s should complete this
proposal in the third semester; students entering without a Master’s have until
the fourth semester. An oral qualifying examination covering the broad background
and detailed knowledge relating to the student’s specialization and research
proposal will be held in the same semester that the proposal is submitted.
After satisfactory performance on the Qualifying Examination, the student will
complete and publicly defend the dissertation.
Also, see the University’s general degree requirements.
Please note that more detailed instructions for Geosciences Graduate students
are given in the "Guideline for Graduate Students - Geosciences" that is
available in the office of the Department Head.
Doctor
of Philosophy in Geospatial Information Sciences
The Doctor of Philosophy in
Geospatial Information Sciences is an advanced degree offered jointly by the
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the School of Economic, Political
and Policy Sciences and the Eric Jonsson School of
Engineering and Computer Science. Geospatial information is a unifying theme
across a wide range of disciplines and the unique organization of this program
permits a diverse range of expertise to the prospective student. The Ph.D. in
GIS is intended to go beyond the M.S. in GIS degree in terms of analysis, the
creation of new technology and the novel application of geospatial information
technology. This program will prepare students for leadership positions in
academy, industry or government.
Individual students can concentrate
in particular discipline areas. The Geosciences component focuses on remote
sensing and mapping technologies, including global positioning satellite and
three-dimensional laser ranging based data capture as well as other imaging
technologies. In particular, these methodologies are applied to geological,
hydrological and environmental problems associated with the physical Earth.
It is expected that students will
enter this program with diverse educational backgrounds. Applicants may have
Bachelors, Masters or other advanced degrees in any relevant field including computer
science, economics, engineering, geography, geology, information system
management, resource management, geographical information science and possibly
others. At least a Bachelors degree from an accredited (or equivalent)
institution with an undergraduate/graduate grade point average of 3.25 or
better is required. A GRE score of 1150 or higher is desirable. Fluency in
written and spoken English is required. (Please see detailed degree
requirements under "Doctor of Philosophy in Geospatial Information Sciences,"
listed in the School of Social Sciences section of the catalog.)