Undergraduate Life

Ways to Amplify Your Experience as an Earth and Climate Sciences Major

Students taking field notes about basalt intrusions in Acadia NP

Pick your electives:

Your core courses provide an excellent foundation, but the major allows flexibility in which electives you choose to take, depending on your interests and career prospects (e.g., research, industry, government agencies or non-profit organizations). You should talk with professors whose lectures you find most interesting and see if they teach other courses.

Apply for research jobs:

The School of Earth and Climate Sciences is composed of several active research groups, including crustal studies and geodynamics; glacial geology, glaciology and climate change; hydrology and environmental geochemistry; and marine/coastal geology and sedimentology. We encourage our students to become research or field assistants doing computational, laboratory or field work, through projects in Maine and around the world. Click on the Research or People links for information about the faculty and their respective fields of study. You should check the job board regularly (just outside of BGSC 101).

Get to know BGSC:

The School of Earth and Climate Sciences is located in the Bryand Global Science Center (BGSC), and provides large, modern work spaces equipped with a wide range of facilities and laboratories available for undergraduate student use. This is an excellent work, research, learning and studying environment with students spaces and a computer cluster. You should plan on studying in this building in between your classes.

Get to know the people:

In addition to the informal study groups that develop, you will find good company in the Geology Club, an active organization that plans social events and field trips throughout the year. You should join the Geology Club, attend our weekly GeoLunch speaker series, our school-wide social events, and get to know the faculty and graduate students as well. The more involved you are, the more people you can talk to about your future goals and next steps.

Life as an undergraduate student in Earth and Climate Sciences includes the normal mix of academic and social events, but we provide additional opportunities designed to help our students get the most out of their experience. For example, many of our classes include field trips where you can interact more closely with professors and other students, we actively seek student involvement in our research programs, and we have dedicated spaces in our building for students to gather and socialize. Building on these opportunities we offer a rigorous and practical curriculum that allows students to choose courses that best meet their interests and career goals. Students can pursue a traditional program of study, or use electives to focus on a particular aspect of Earth and Climate Sciences.

Ways to Travel as an Earth and Climate Scientists

Field Trips:

Earth Sciences comes alive in the field, strengthening student-student and student-faculty connections, which is why field trips are an important part of undergraduate learning. Many UMaine Earth Science courses include field trips to a variety of places around Maine.

Research Assistants:

Opportunities to travel to places farther afield, such as Antarctica, New Zealand, Mexico and Canada, are available as a research assistant.

Capstone:

As part of the undergraduate curriculum, students are required to attend a 5 to 6 week-long field camp course, usually located outside of Maine. Many field camps are based in the Western United States, but some are offered in other countries such as Ireland, Italy and Turkey. The photo at left shows two undergraduate students participating in a summer research project in Greenland.

Geology Club:

Students can join the Geology Club, a student-run organization that includes local and more distant trips with other fun events. Past field trips have included the Colorado Plateau, Grand Manan Island, North Carolina, and Jamaica.

What Research Opportunities are there for Undergraduates?

Faculty members in the School form four research groups that cover the broad topics of climate change, environmental geology, plate tectonics and marine geology. We encourage our students to participate in research with these faculty members, either as independent work in association with one or more faculty members, or as a laboratory or field assistant. Independent research can lead to a senior thesis, which may be used to satisfy the thesis requirement of the University of Maine Honors College. Several students have presented their senior work at regional and national professional meetings and some have coauthored scientific papers on their results. A senior thesis is an excellent experience that also impresses potential employers and graduate advisors. Check our Research page for more information about research topics and links to associated faculty members. If you already have a specific area of interest, contact us and we’ll connect you with the appropriate faculty members so you can learn more about the possibilities within their field. We make an effort to match students with projects and faculty that will provide enriching experiences and valuable knowledge.

Undergraduate Academics

Our curriculum combines required core courses and elective in Earth and Climate Sciences, as well as ancillary sciences and mathematics. All Earth and Climate Sciences students also complete the university’s General Education requirements. Our core courses are designed to provide our undergrads with a solid understanding of Earth processes and an introduction to the broad spectrum of fields in the Earth and Climate Sciences. Elective courses allow students to build upon this foundation and pursue individual interests. For more information on the required curriculum for undergraduates, as well as Earth and Climate Sciences courses, check out the Program Requirements page.

Life as an Earth and Climate Sciences Undergraduate

walking through the woods Going to college is a fun and valuable experience in your life, but is much different from the high school experience. Incoming students participate in a course designed as an introduction to the School, faculty and available resources. This helps students quickly integrate into our undergraduate group, and provides lots of opportunities to meet new friends and participate in departmental activities. Our undergraduate advisor helps to design student schedules to make the most of their academic experience, and serves as a contact point for new students. Outside of the classroom there are plenty of extra-curricular activities both in and out of our department. The Geology Club sponsors hikes and other activities, and there are also a wide range of university-wide programs for undergraduates including club sports, musical and theater groups, movie nights and concerts.

Contact Information

Please contact Dr. Alice Bernosky with any questions you have about our undergraduate program.

Internships

Internships can be paid or unpaid opportunities outside of UMaine with government, research, or consulting institutions where students gain real-world experience and explore their potential career options in the geosciences. Here are places where recent Earth and Climate Science majors did internships:

When searching for Earth and Climate Sciences jobs, it may help to use alternative words like ‘geology’, ‘environmental science’, or something more specific like ‘hydrogeology’. Here are some internship search sites: