The B.S. in Geology and Geological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island is obtained through a combination of:

• General Education courses

• Supporting Science courses

• a Core series of geosciences courses; and

• a series of Oceanography courses culminating in a senior research project.

General Education Courses

The general education course requirement is a University-wide policy designed to build a basic academic foundation for all undergraduates.  A total of thirty-seven credits is required.  This is divided in the following manner:  Five courses (totaling 15 credits), apportioned among the fine arts, literature, and languages (and related culture courses) are required.  Two courses (6 credits) in the social sciences, a writing course, a communications course, and freshman seminar (URI 101) are also required.  The natural science (6 credits) and mathematics (3 credits) general education requirements are covered under supporting sciences below.  Courses that meet the general education requirements at the University of Rhode Island can be found in the catalog.

Supporting Sciences

The B.S. in Geosciences requires 1 year, each, of calculus-based mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology (totaling between 31-35 credits, 9 of which are applicable to the general education requirement).  A course in computer science (CSC 201; Introduction to Computer Programming) or a course in statistics (STA 308, Introductory Statistics) is also required.  Courses that meet the supporting science requirements are listed at here.

Core Geoscience Courses

All Geology and Geological Oceanography majors take a suite of courses that parallel the General Geology option of the Geosciences degree.  These courses are:

GEO 101 – Freshman Inquiry into the Geosciences (1 credit)

GEO 103 – Understanding the Earth (4 credits)            

GEO 203 – Field Geology (3 credits)

GEO 210 – Landforms: Origin and Evolution (4 credits)

GEO 240 – Prehistoric Life (4 credits)

GEO 320 – Earth Materials (4 credits)

GEO 321 – Rocks and Geologic Processes (4 credits)

GEO 370 – Structure of the Earth (4 credits)

GEO 421 – Geochemistry (3 credits)

GEO 450 – Introduction to Sedimentary Geology (4 credits)

GEO 465 – Introduction to Geophysics (3 credits)

GEO 488 – Geological Evolution of North America (4 credits)

GEO 480 – Summer Field Camp (4 – 6 credits).  All majors must take a field course (listed in the URI transcript as GEO 480), preferably during the summer of the junior or senior year.  Such courses are offered by a variety of different schools around the country, and usually involve 4 – 6 weeks of intensive rock identification, mapping, and structural and stratigraphic studies in the field.  To broaden their geological experiences, we encourage our students to take advantage of one of the many courses offered in the western United States. 

In addition to the core geoscience courses, students take three Oceanography courses and complete an oceanography research project:

·        OCG 401 General Oceanography or OCG 451 Oceanographic Science (3 credits)  

·        OCG 540 Geological Oceanography (3 credits)  

·        Oceanography elective (400-level or above) (3 credits)  

·        OCG 493/494 Senior Research Project (3 credits)

A degree requirement checklist is available here.

Suggested Sequence of courses:

Freshman, Fall        Freshman, Spring

GEO 103                   GEO 240, if offered,
BIO 1XX*                   or GEO 210

CHM 101, 102          BIO 1XX*

URI 101                     CHM 112, 114

Gen. Ed. elective         MTH 111, if needed

                                   Gen. Ed. elective

Sophomore, Fall        Sophomore, Spring

GEO 203                    GEO 210 or 240

GEO 320                    GEO 321

PHY 111,185              PHY 112,186
 or 203, 273                   or 204,274

MTH 131 or 141         MTH 132 or 142

Gen. Ed. elective

Junior, Fall                 Junior, Spring

GEO 465                    GEO 370

OCG 401**                GEO 421

STA 308 or CSC 201  OCG 540

Gen. Ed. Elective          Gen. Ed. elective

Gen. Ed. elective           Gen. Ed. elective

Senior, Fall                Senior, Spring

GEO 450                    GEO 488

OCG elective               OCG 494

Gen. Ed. elective          Gen. Ed. Elective

Free elective                 Free elective

Free elective                 Free elective

General education electives should be selected carefully to meet requirements noted above.  Number of free electives will vary depending on number of credits for field camp, biology and math courses. 

**Students may elect OCG 451 (Spring course) in lieu of OCG 401.
Summer Field Camp (GEO 480) should be taken during the summer between the junior and senior years, or the summer following the senior year.