We emphasize direct field and laboratory experiences at all educational levels, with active and close interactions between faculty and small groups of students.
On any given weekend, the department will typically have more than 1000 students in the field somewhere in Washington, with many hundreds more each week participating in laboratory sessions. Additionally, ESS faculty provide at least 20 undergraduate research opportunities each year through the ESS Honors Program, and many additional paid and informal research opportunities with faculty and graduate students.
Field Courses and Field Trips
ESS offers experiential learning opportunities for our students through field courses and field trips, which have included the volcanic fields of the Canary Islands and Hawaii, sedimentary stratigraphy and seismicity in Sicily, and glaciology, climate, and culture in Greenland.
Course description: Intensive 6-week, 12-credit, Seattle-based, field- and GIS course. Development of skills in field data collection, GIS/remote sensing analysis, data interpretation, and report writing. Addresses topics in regional geology, engineering geology, and geologic hazards. Class meets 8-6 M-F on campus or at field sites (transportation provided).
Required prerequisites: ESS 211, 212, 213, 420 and one of 311-316.
For 2023:
Instructors: Crider, Walters, Condit. Contact Dr. Crider with questions about the course. Dates and times of instruction: June 20-July 28. No class meeting July 3 or 4. Class meets 8 a.m.-6 p.m., MTWThF on campus or at field sites. Possible 1-2 night camping trip(s), TBD. Cost: 12-credits of summer tuition, plus transportation and materials fee, TBD.
ESS 499/BIOL 475 Paleontology Field Methods and Research
Students in the ESS Biology BS degree option are permitted to substitute ESS 449/BIOL 475: Paleontology Field Methods and Research for the ESS 400/401 requirement. ESS 449 is administered by the Biology Department; students should direct questions about the course to the instructor. ESS students in other degree options can only use ESS 449/BIOL 475 as a substitute for ESS 400/401 with the approval of the Associate Chair for the Undergraduate Program (see below).
Alternative Capstone Sequences
Students may elect to fulfill the ESS capstone requirement with a sequence of thematically-inked courses during the academic year instead of ESS 401. Offerings may change each year. Students must complete all three courses in each sequence to meet the requirement. (Please note that this substitution fulfills ESS graduation requirements but may not meet geologist licensing requirements for field-geology training in California and some other states.) For 2023-24, ESS will offer two alternative capstone sequences:
Engineering Geology capstone: ESS 447 Engineering Geology (Autumn) and ESS 510 Applied Field Geology (Spring), plus ESS 490 Professional Practice Seminar (1 cr all three quarters AWS).
Environmental Geochemistry capstone: ESS 457 Environmental Geochemistry (Winter) and ESS 482 Env. Geochem. Lab (Spring), plus ESS 490 Professional Practice Seminar (1 cr all three quarters AWS).
Alternative Field Camp Courses
Students may elect to fulfill the capstone/field course requirement through summer field courses at other universities or organizations. Students must obtain permission to substitute another university’s field camp course for the ESS 400/401 requirement. Examples of courses that have been approved in the past include:
The National Association of Geoscience Teachers maintains a list of field courses that accept external students. (ESS has not vetted this list, so please check with us if you are interested in a particular course)
Students considering another field camp as a substitute for ESS 400/401 must submit a major exception request form to request approval for the substitution from the Associate Chair for the Undergraduate Program (Dr. Gorman-Lewis). It is the student’s responsibility to complete all application and registration requirements for the alternate field camp and to make arrangements with their instructors in advance if their alternate field camp dates will conflict with the dates of their UW courses.
Students considering field camp abroad should plan to meet with UW Study Abroad Advising to discuss study abroad logistics, safety planning, and other general study abroad questions.
Undergraduate research and independent study are strongly encouraged. Research greatly enriches a student’s undergraduate experience and provides opportunities to extend across disciplines, develop transferable skills such as written and oral communication and critical thinking, and build relationships with the scientific community.
Faculty provide at least 20 undergraduate research opportunities each year through the ESS Honors Program, and many additional paid and informal research opportunities with faculty and graduate students. We encourage undergraduate students to reach out directly to professors and/or graduate students they are interested in working with. Undergraduates can also email the Academic Adviser to get started.
Undergraduate research projects can be presented, through posters or talks, at the UW Undergraduate Research Symposium, the ESS Research Gala, an AGU or GSA meeting, and other professional meetings for which there is a published abstract of the presentations.
