Link to the University of Waterloo home page
2019-2020

The Undergraduate Calendar

 

 

Science Academic Programs and Plans

Earth Sciences

Honours Co-operative Earth Sciences, Geology Specialization

Advisors: See Faculty of Science, academic advisors.

Geology is the study of the Earth, its structure and composition, and the physical, chemical, and biological processes that have affected and continue to shape this planet over a variety of time scales. Training in geology leads to numerous challenging career paths such as exploration for natural resources (minerals, oil, and gas), environmental protection, identifying geological hazards, and understanding global climate change. Graduates are in great demand in a variety of employment sectors that include the exploration industry, mining, government, education, and consulting.

Continuing in Honours Co-operative Earth Sciences, Geology Specialization requires a cumulative overall average of 60% and a cumulative average of 60% in all EARTH courses.

Successful completion of this program requires:

  1. 21.5 units that include:
  2. Co-operative education requirements that include:

Notes

  1. SCI and EARTH courses may not be counted as program electives.
  2. A maximum of 1.5 SCI units may be counted as electives.
  3. Additional co-op program information is located in the Co-operative Education and Career Action (CECA) section of this Calendar and in the Science Faculty work-term report guidelines.

Recommended Course Sequence


Year One


Fall

CHEM 120/CHEM 120L Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter/Chemical Reaction Laboratory 1
EARTH 121/EARTH 121L Introductory Earth Sciences/Introductory Earth Sciences Laboratory
EARTH 123 Introductory Hydrology
MATH 127 Calculus 1 for the Sciences
PHYS 111/PHYS 111L Physics 1/Physics 1 Laboratory
 or PHYS 121/PHYS 121L Mechanics/Mechanics Laboratory

Winter

CHEM 123/CHEM 123L Chemical Reactions, Equilibria and Kinetics/Chemical Reaction Laboratory 2
EARTH 122/EARTH 122L Introductory Environmental Sciences/Introductory Environmental Sciences Laboratory
MATH 128 Calculus 2 for the Sciences
PHYS 112/PHYS 112L Physics 2/Physics 2 Laboratory
 or PHYS 122/PHYS 122L Waves, Electricity and Magnetism/Waves, Electricity and Magnetism Laboratory
One of ENGL 193/SPCOM 193 Communication in the Sciences


Year Two


Fall

EARTH 223 Field Methods in Hydrology
EARTH 231 Mineralogy
EARTH 235 Stratigraphic Approaches to Understanding Earth's History
EARTH 260 Applied Geophysics 1
MATH 106 Applied Linear Algebra 1 
 or MATH 114 Linear Algebra for Science

Spring

EARTH 221 Geochemistry
EARTH 232 Petrography
Two program electives (1.0 unit)
One elective (0.5 unit)


Year Three


Winter

EARTH 238 Introductory Structural Geology
EARTH 333 Introductory Sedimentology
EARTH 358 Earth System Science
EARTH 390 Methods in Geological Mapping
One EARTH elective 300-level or higher (0.5 unit)
One elective (0.5 unit)

Fall

EARTH 331 Volcanology and Igneous Petrology
EARTH 342 Geomorphology and GIS Applications
STAT 202 Introductory Statistics for Scientists
One EARTH elective 300-level or higher (0.5 unit)
One elective (0.5 unit)


Year Four


Fall

EARTH 436A Honours Thesis
 or EARTH 499 Research Project
Three EARTH electives 300-level or higher (1.5 units)
One elective (0.5 unit)

Winter

EARTH 332 Metamorphic Petrology
EARTH 436B Honours Thesis
 or one EARTH elective 300-level or higher (0.5 unit)
EARTH 471 Mineral Deposits
One EARTH elective 200-level or higher (0.5 unit)

 


Office of the Registrar
University of Waterloo
2nd Floor, Ira G. Needles Hall
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4567