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Geology Major

In our Geology program, you will investigate the evolution of the Earth and other planets while exploring ways to improve our shared future.

The science of geology studies how we can mitigate the impact of resource shortages, climate change, and natural disasters — such as catastrophic hurricanes, river flooding, earthquakes, volcanoes, or tsunamis — while protecting endangered communities and infrastructures from these threats.

Students at field camp in the desert.Why Should I Choose Geology?

  • Broaden your perspective of time and existence
  • Get experience with hands-on learning, both in class and outside adventures
  • Travel to professional and academic networking events: Students can attend local, regional, national professional meetings, often with special student discounts.
  • Field trips are offered on a regular and occasional basis, visiting local, national, and international areas like:
    • Big Bend, Guadalupe National Parks, TX
    • White Sands National Monument, NM
    • Arches, Canyonlands National Parks, UT
    • Colorado National Monument
    • Devil’s Tower, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons National Parks, WY
    • Mt. Rushmore, Badlands National Park, SD

Opportunities at UL Lafayette

You'll get your hands dirty

UL Lafayette's geology program offers plenty of opportunities for field experience. South Louisiana — with its rivers, deltas, swamps, marshes, and beaches — is a natural laboratory for studying modern sedimentary processes.

But field experience doesn’t stop there.

You'll join students from UL Lafayette and other universities at Field Camp between your junior and senior years. 

You can also take field trips to other parts of the country to study how geology shaped the planet Earth. UL Lafayette-sponsored field trips have been offered to regions across North America, Central America, and Europe.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette geology majors at Field CampJoin the professional community

Lafayette is home to a large geological community that offers technical meetings, short courses, scholarships, internships, and other support for UL Lafayette geology students.

Those groups include the Lafayette Geological Society, the Southwest Louisiana Geophysical Society, the Lafayette chapter of the Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists, and the Lafayette chapter of the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts, which all hold monthly meetings and presentations that are open to students. 

The Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies holds its annual convention in Lafayette every few years. The convention offers a chance to network with geology professionals in addition to providing extra learning opportunities.

On campus, we have a chapter of the national geological honor society Sigma Gamma Epsilon, an active American Association of Petroleum Geology (AAPG) Student Chapter, Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) Student Chapter, Society for Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) Student Chapter, and a student geological society.

Concentrations in Geology

As a geology major, you can choose to specialize in a certain subfield with one of our concentrations:

  • Earth sciences
  • Environmental geology
  • Paleontology
  • Energy Resources

Learn more about the courses in each of our concentrations.

Apply for Admission

All applicants must meet the UL Lafayette admissions requirements to be accepted into the geology program.

Admissions Requirements

Contact Us

Have more questions? Please email us at geology@louisiana.edu. We’re happy to help you decide if geology is the right major for you.

If you're interested in visiting our campus and learning more about the program, we invite you to sign up for a campus tour. If you sign up for a weekday tour, you can schedule a meeting with one of our undergraduate advisors:

Ms. Kristie Cornell
Email: cornell@louisiana.edu
Phone: 337-482-1455
Hamilton Hall, Room 325

or

Dr. Jennifer Hargrave
Email: jhargrave@louisiana.edu
Phone: 337-482-0678
Hamilton Hall, Room 327