Engineering and Geoscience Courses
These course descriptions have been submitted by faculty from a range of disciplines. The courses address various ways of integrating geoscience and engineering.
Engineering Geology
Robert Mitchell, Western Washington University
This is a geology course that focuses on the core activities of engineering geologists – site characterization and geologic hazard identification and mitigation.
Basic Hydrology
Gigi Richard, Fort Lewis College
Basic Hydrology is an introduction to physical and applied hydrology and explores the components of the hydrologic cycle including processes of precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, infiltration, ground-water flow, surface runoff and streamflow.
Hydrotopia: Water Resources Management in the West
Steven Burian, University of Utah
This is an interdisciplinary water management course. It is co-taught by an engineering instructor and an instructor from humanities. Students experience class sessions involving traditional lectures, guest speakers, position paper debates, and design charettes. Students are required to complete numerous in-class exercises, homework, three position papers, and a team project.
Geology for Engineers
Mary Beth Gray, Bucknell University
This is an introductory course designed for first year civil engineering students. Lectures, classroom exercises, discussions, indoor labs, homework, readings, and a long-term library research project are all components of this course. Field labs include limestone and coal surface mines, karstified terrain, and surficial and bedrock mapping.
Geology for Engineers/Engineering Geology
Diane Doser, University of Texas at El Paso
This course emphasizes how geology is used by engineers so that they can coverse with geoscientists, read pertinent geoscience literature and identify geological problems in the field.
Groundwater Engineering
Gretchen Miller, Wake Technical Community College
Groundwater Engineering is a lecture-based course designed to provide graduate students with both the background information and quantitative tools they will need to work in the water management and environmental consulting fields or to conduct related research.
Geology for Engineers
Freddi-Jo Bruschke, California State University-Fullerton
This is a lecture-based course designed to provide an broad introduction to geologic concepts and processes for engineers with no previous exposure to geology. Students complete a series of analytic assignments related to the topics covered in lecture and research a California geologic hazard topic to present to the rest of the class.
Life Cycle Assessment Modeling
James Stone, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
This is an interdisciplinary lecture and computational laboratory course where students will focus on the computational structure and data sources required to complete an environmental LCA. The course is delivered using a problem based learning approach, utilizing many of the LCA modeling software available.
Water Resources Engineering Design (CIEN 560)
Manoj Jha, North Carolina A & T State University
This is an upper level course for senior undergraduate and graduate students. The mode is fully lecture with a field trip and a design project. Students learn a series of design problems of water resources structures including open channel, reservoir storage, water supply system, and storm and sanitary sewer system.
Global Changes and Sustainability
Brenda Bowen, University of Utah
This is a project-based graduate course that focuses on developing an interdisciplinary perspective of the complex systems of environmental change and the links to society.
Water Resources Engineering
Anne Ronan, New York University
This is a lecture-based course that introduces students to a wide range of water-quantity (as opposed to quality) topics relevant to civil engineering design.
Elementary Geophysics
Don Hellstern, Brookhaven College
This is a proposed course in concept phase that incorporates practical engineering into an elementary geophysics class by studying geophysical theory and the sustainable aspects of working energy industry facilities and collaborating with professionals in those fields to develop pertinent academic experiences.
Applied Geology
Horacio Ferriz, California State University-Stanislaus
A practical course about the nature of professional geologic work. Includes (1) discussions about engineering geology (the use of geology to the solution of engineering problems in civil and sanitary engineering), soil mechanics, rock mechanics; (2) mineral exploration, and (3) geothermal energy exploration.
Structural Geology
Dan Morgan, Vanderbilt University
This course addresses many topics about how rocks break and deform, for which I try to emphasize applications to earthquakes, hydraulic fracturing, hydrocarbon extraction, and landscape evolution.
Geological Engineering Site Investigation
Paul Santi, Colorado School of Mines
This course is designed to teach the skills needed to investigate subsurface soil and rock for engineering projects. Students learn drilling, sampling, logging, and testing methods, and they practice using geological knowledge to optimize site investigations.