Degree Programs

EEES is no longer admitting new students

The requirements for the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are discussed in the Degree Requirements section.

Hypothetical Graduate Student Backgrounds and Programs

There are obviously a large number of possible research paths that a student could pursue with multiple faculty within the School of Earth Sciences. Here we provide some specific examples, along with a list of courses in each of the two areas of specialization that would most likely be required (with the department or school where the course is offered in parentheses, GP = Geophysics, GES = Geological and Environmental Sciences, PE = Petroleum Engineering, CEE = Civil and Environmental Engineering, CME = Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, CS = Computer Science).

1) Marine Ecosystem Modeling

Below are the courses likely to be taken by a student who wishes to combine oceanographic principals with quantitative analysis and modeling techniques.

Oceanography		Quantitative/Modeling
Biological Oceanography (GP)		Exploring Geosciences with MATLAB (GP)
Advanced Biological Oceanography (GP)		Principles of Ecology (GP)
Introduction to Physical Oceanography (CEE)		Fourier Transform and its Applications (EE)
Advanced Oceanography (GES)		Modeling Environmental Flows (CEE)
Paleoceanography (GES)		Statistics of Ocean Observations (GES)
Marine Chemistry (GES)		Marine Ecosystem Modeling (GP)
The Glacial World (GP/GES)		Remote Sensing of the Ocean (GP)

2) CO₂ Sequestration Modeling

Below are the courses likely to be taken by a student wishing to model the long-term geologic sequestration of anthropogenically produced CO₂.

Engineering and Computation		Geology and Geophysics
Reservoir Characterization and Flow Modeling (PE)		Faults, Fractures, and Fluid Flow (GES)
Thermodynamics of Equilibria (PE)		Physical Hydrogeology (GES)
Fundamentals of Multiphase Flow (PE)		Contaminant Hydrogeology (GES)
Enhanced Oil Recovery (PE)		Reservoir Geomechanics (GP)
Reservoir Simulation (PE)		Rock Physics (GP)
Linear Algebra with Applications to Engineering Computations (CME)
Partial Differential Equations in Engineering (CME)
Groundwater Flow (CEE)
Modeling Environmental Flows (CEE)

3) Quantitative Flow Modeling and Prediction in Fractured Systems

Below are the courses likely to be taken by a student wishing to understand the movement of materials through fractured geologic formations using quantitative modeling techniques.

Fracture Modeling		Reservoir Modeling
Structural Geology and Rock Mechanics (GES)		Practice of Geostatistics (GES/GP/PE)
Fault Fractures and Fluid Flow (GES)		Advanced Geostatistics (GES/PE)
Rock Fracture Mechanics (GES/GP)		Fundamentals of Multiphase Flow (PE)
Reservoir Geomechanics (GP)		Reservoir Simulation (PE)
Rock Physics (GP)		Well Testing (PE)
Advanced Structural Geology and Rock Mechanics (GES/GP)		Advanced Reservoir Simulation (PE)
		Modeling of 3D Geological Objects (PE)
		Geostatistics for Spatial Phenomena (GES/PE)

4) Computational Geosciences

Below are a subset of the courses likely to be taken by a student who wishes to combine a rigorous curriculum in scientific and numerical computing with one of the computationally oriented research areas that are active in the in the School of Earth Sciences (e.g. groundwater flow simulation, reservoir flow simulation, seismic imaging and modeling, SAR imaging, ...). The following courses cover the computational component of the curriculum; we do not list Earth Sciences courses because the Earth Sciences component is strongly dependent on the area of specialization.

Numerical Methods and Scientific Computing
Introduction to Large Scale Computing in Engineering (CME)
Numerical Linear Algebra (CS)
Partial Differential Equations in Engineering (CME)
Optimization: Deterministic and Stochastic Approach (PE)
Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations (CME)
Stochastic Methods in Engineering (CME)
Numerical Methods for Initial Boundary Problems (CS/CME)
Spectral Methods in Computational Physics (CME)
Parallel Methods in Numerical Analysis (CME)


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