The course work provides the tools and skills needed to complete a research project and thesis required of all geology majors in their senior year. Topics that have environmental implications have become increasingly popular. There are numerous opportunities for summer research projects. Grants are available to fund independent study, or you might work on a faculty member's project. This year, Bates students joined a team in Mexico to test groundwater in a mining district where the drinking water is contaminated with arsenic.
Internships are also available.
One of our students was hired this year by a local community to study the quality of the city's water. The geology department's equipment holdings are extensive. The automated sedimentology lab, used not only by students but by other geologists from nearby states and other parts of Maine, contains various instruments that analyze the physical makeup of sediment in cores drawn from lake bottoms. The information gives clues as to global climatic changes. Our department also has equipment that can determine the presence of elements like copper and lead in water at levels of parts per billion.