Abstract from AGU Chapman Conference, Sept 1994

Geological Education must get broader and deeper to survive

William I Rose, Suzanne Beske-Diehl, Alex Mayer (Geological Engineering, MichiganTechnological University, Houghton MI 49931; 906 487-2531; raman@mtu.edu)

We believe that our program's success comes from its breadth and diversity, its committment to quantatitive methods and its overall engineering flavor. If we don't produce geological engineers, other engineers will take many of the new jobs, not graduates in geology. We have awarded mostly geological engineering degrees since the 1940s. Our approach to redefinition of geoscience has been to broaden our curricular scope by embracing the hydrosphere and the atmosphere and to add depth by emphasizing engineering skills and geophysics. Our program merges degree programs in geology, geological engineering and geophysics under one roof, all in an engineering college. An interdisciplinary team of 13 faculty teaches degree programs suited for designing practical solutions to problems posed by human interactions with earth systems. Broad exposure to earth systems and earth materials is vital for geological engineers, distinguishing them from environmental engineers and adding realism to their models. Engineering skills provide quantitative skills for accurate models for earth systems and make key areas such as fluid dynamics accessible. Geophysics, emphasizing subsurface visualization, the atmosphere and remote sensing, adds scope to our program. Thrust research areas are Groundwater Systems, Natural Hazard Mitigation, Resource Engineering, Geophysical Engineering, and Remote Sensing. Students are given a choice in programs: geological engineering, applied geophysics, geoenvironmental engineering, environmental geology and geology. Most classes have either changed radically, or are new. Advanced workstations which can handle large data sets, industry software and images are used throughout the curriculum. Enrollment in classes by non majors is high and there are many crossover students, especially in graduate programs. Senior classes are interdisciplinary team projects. We are frustrated with teaching materials, which seem to avoid problem solving approaches. We have forged linkages with other departments: Materials, Electrical, Environmental and Civil Engineering, Biological Sciences, Forestry and Physics, resulting in joint research and integrated curricula.