Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2014

Welcome to our Newest Majors: Luke Brittan - AEG, Kimberly Ramirez - AEG, Magan Tea - Geol, and Samantha Wilson - AEG. We are excited to have you join our department! Please do not hesitate to let us know how we can best support you with your goals. (Geol = Geology major, AEG = Applied Environmental Geosciences major, EST = Earth Science Teaching major)

Environmental Assessment Added to Spring Schedule: Dr. Marek Matyjasik will offer his Environmental Assessment (GEO 4150) class this coming Spring Semester (it was not originally on our 3-year plan for Spring 2015). The course is an interdisciplinary study of geology applied to the transport of contaminants in groundwater, environmental site assessment and remediation. Prerequisites: GEO 1060, 1065, 2050. Scheduled for MWF 12:30-1:20 pm. Please contact Professor Matyjasik if you have any questions.

Departmental Advising: As the schedule of classes for Spring 2015 will soon be available, you might consider touching base with your departmental advisor to discuss your course selections and overall degree progress. The advisors are listed below:

   Geology: Dr. Jeff Eaton

   Applied Environmental Geosciences: Dr. Marek Matyjasik

   Earth Science Teaching: Dr. Rick Ford

   Geospatial Minor/Geomatics Certificate: Dr. Michael Hernandez

   All Graduating Seniors (Spring & Summer 2015): Dr. Rick Ford

We want to help you during the registration process -- come see us!

Creating Your Resume:  WSU Career Services can guide you in creating your first resume and/or slanting your resume toward an internship opportunity or specific position. They can also role play a general job interview with you and offer you tips for the process.  We recommend that all students put together a working resume as early as their freshmen year. To get started, please contact Greg Nielsen atgnielsen@weber.edu or 801.626.6394.  Tell him the Department of Geosciences sent you!

Resume Review & Interview Support for Graduating Geo Seniors: All Geosciences majors who will be graduating within the next calendar year, and have basic resumes (see the above entry), are invited to have their resumes reviewed by a member of the department's Geosciences Advisory Council (GAC). All members of the GAC are department alumni who are currently working in local geoscience-related positions.  They are willing to review your resumes and offer valuable feedback for today's workplace, communicating mostly through email.  Some GAC members are also willing to role play a mock job interview with you.  In order to participate, you must be planning to graduate within the next calendar year, already have a general resume, and have some idea of what type of work you will be applying for.  When you are ready, please contact Dr. Rick Ford at rford@weber.edu or 801.626.6942.  

Free Student Membership in AAPG:  Chevron will pay annual dues for any geoscience student wishing to join the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). Even better, they are willing to renew these dues annually as long as the student remains enrolled pursing their degree. Click here for details.

New AGI Report on Geoscience Graduates: The American Geosciences Institute (AGI)  has released the 2014 "Status of Recent Geoscience Graduates", which highlights the impact of booming enrollments and the challenges students face in matching their education to the requirements of geoscience-related industries.Two key trends continued in 2014, the number of geoscience graduates ​NOT​ participating in internships is increasing, and a their is a shortage of available spaces​ ​to attend ​summer field camps.​ Both​ ​trends impact potential employ​ment, ​as previous work and field experiences remain top employer desires in new hires.

​WSU geoscience graduates participated in the survey. A hard copy of the report is available in the Majors' Room. ​To download the report: http://bit.ly/1xwNOpf

Is Your Picture on the Majors' Board?  We are working to update the Geosciences Majors' Board that is located in the hallway just outside SL 320.  If your picture is not on the board, or you would like an updated picture, we invite you to stop by the department office and get your picture taken.     

Photo of the Week: 

The new Tracy Hall Science Center is progressing nicely, including the second floor of the south tower - the future home of the Department of Geosciences (purple arrow).

Have a great weekend!

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