Student Research

Geology student examining fossil bearing sediment in UMW's Micropaleontology Lab.

Qualified junior and senior year geology students may elect to pursue an independent research project or off campus internship experience.  Independent research may count for up to four (4) credits which may be applied toward the twelve (12) elective credits required for the major. The subject and scope of the research is determined in consultation with a faculty advisor.  An internship provides students with the opportunity to work within a professional agency and is an excellent way to explore career options.  A department faculty member serves as a student mentor during the course of the internship.  Up to three (3) credits of internship experience may count toward the geology major.

Geology program students have engaged in the following independent research projects:

• Fluid Inclusions in Quartz/Feldspar Veins
• Microfabric Analysis of Shear Zones in Casper, Wyoming
• Mesozoic Faulting in Culpeper, Virginia
• Controls on Ion Migration in Soils
• Clay Composition and Soil Behavior
• GPS Survey of Prince William Park
• Digital Mapping and GIS Applications
• Geothermometry of Virginia Piedmont Metamorphic Rocks
• Urbanization and Enhanced Storm Hazards
• Raman Laser Analysis of Fluid Inclusion Compositions
• Analysis of Metamorphic Fabrics in the Fredericksburg, Virginia Area
• Mineral Optics and Cathodoluminescence
• Lithospheric Plate Velocities
• Source of Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater
• Quantitative Evaluation of GIS Terrain Models
• Development of dolomite in arid Hawaiian soils