ABOUT
Earth is the only home we have, so we must study and learn the Earth’s natural processes and how they impact our society. Environmental issues, water availability, energy resources, climate change and natural disasters all impact our health, our safety and our economy. As a geology major at Clemson, you’ll study all of these issues plus traditional topics including rocks, minerals and fossils, which reveal information about Earth’s history and provide the raw materials that our society and technology are built upon. This degree is designed to help you develop quantitative skills, while familiarizing you with the topics, technologies and resources needed to follow a career path in the geosciences. Geologists’ career paths can range from traveling and collecting data at field sites to working in high-tech laboratories using advanced software and technology.
FAST FACTS
- Our faculty are respected scholars who take a genuine interest in students’ success and are actively engaged in students’ research.
- You’ll have opportunities to travel to the Bahamas and the western United States for field excursions.
- Our graduates have gone on to work for environmental agencies, energy and water authorities, and oil, gas and other mineral-producing industries.
- Geology majors experience fun and educational trips with chances to see natural processes in person.
WHAT YOU'LL STUDY
To prepare you for the wide range of career options available to geology majors, Clemson’s program provides you with a well-grounded background in geology and related fields. In fact, we have built the curriculum around three critical themes:
- appreciation for spatial and temporal scales,
- knowledge of earth materials and compositions of environmental systems and
- understanding of geological and environmental processes.
No matter the area of geology you’re interested in, we have a flexible curriculum plan that allows you to tailor your degree to your future goals. Within that, you can choose to do a general geology degree — which allows for more electives within a specific interest area such as geophysics, paleontology, sustainability and geological engineering — or a concentration in environmental science or hydrogeology. These two concentrations provide structured course work to help prepare you for a career in these areas.
Environmental Science Concentration: For students interested in learning how to collect and analyze environmental data, this concentration provides a solid introduction to environmental systems. You’ll graduate prepared for a career in natural resources, the environmental consulting industry and government agencies, or graduate studies in environmental fields.
Hydrogeology Concentration: Water is a resource everyone needs to access. This program focuses on understanding water availability and problems that could limit or restrict access to clean water. Graduates work for consulting companies, government agencies and natural resource management groups.
Popular Minors
- Environmental Science and Policy
- Geography
- International Engineering and Science
- Mathematical Sciences
- Natural Resource Economics
AFTER GRADUATION
Your college decision isn't really about the next four years. We get it. It's about what doors are opened by your degree and whether those opportunities are what you had envisioned for yourself. Here's a snapshot of what life after graduation looks like for some of our most recent students.
WHERE OUR RECENT GRADUATES HAVE GONE
KEY
- 41-100%
- 21-40%
- 11-20%
- 0-10%
RECENT EMPLOYERS
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Subsurface Project Assistant
ExxonMobil
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Environmental Consultant
Texidyne
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Field Technician
Golars Environmental Engineering
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Environmental Consultant
Environmental Engineering & Technology, Inc.
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Petroleum Field Technician
Mid-Continent Well Logging Services
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Environmental Consultant
Northwind
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Sample Collection / Data Logger
British Petroleum
RECENT POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
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Ph.D.Hydrology
Colorado School of Mines
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M.S. Hydrogeology
Clemson University
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Masters, Environmental Law
University of Strathclyde (Scotland)
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Ph.D. Geophysics
University of Wyoming
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M.S. Geology and Geological Engineering
South Dakota School of Mines
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M.S. Geology
University of South Carolina
COMMON CAREER AREAS
- Energy Resources
- Structural Geology
- Geophysics
- Economic Geology
- Paleontology
- Fossil Energy
- Mineral Resources
- Mining Geology
- Mineralogy
- Geochemistry
- Economic Geology
- Paleontology
- Stratigraphy
- Sedimentology
- Crystallography
- Environmental Geology
- Sedimentology
- Hydrology
- Geomagnetism
- Earth Surface Dynamics
- Coastal and Marine Geology
- Geologic Mapping
- Astrogeology and Space Sciences
- Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Landslides, Floods
- Seismology
- Geomagnetism
- Global Seismic Networks
Used with permission from the University of Tennessee.
FIND OUT MORE
Have more questions or want more information? Fill out the form below, which goes directly to the following department contact. If you’d also like to receive general University information from Clemson’s admissions office, please follow the link to the right and sign up to join our mailing list.
Christopher Porter
CECAS Undergraduate Recruitment Director
864-656-7870
cporter@clemson.edu