The Department of Geological Sciences at New Mexico State University offers both undergraduate and graduate study leading to advanced degrees in geological science. Advanced training offered through the program of study can qualify students for employment in such branches of geological science as mining, petroleum, environmental and engineering geology, for government service or may serve as preparation for further graduate study. The Undergraduate and Graduate education experience may include such areas of faculty specialization as sedimentology, geochemistry, volcanology, stratigraphy, geotectonics, structural geology, economic geology, and paleontology. The educational experience is not simply limited to the classroom.
Field work is a major component of many of the classes offered.
The location of NMSU in the southern part of the Rio Grande rift provides an ideal situation for a wide variety of geologic studies. The fault-block mountains and valleys in the rift area near the campus expose rocks of all the geologic systems except Triassic and Jurassic. Igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks of the Precambrian era are common, as are marine carbonates and clastics of the Paleozoic and Cretaceous. The Tertiary is represented by silicic, intermediate and basaltic rocks, including their source volcanoes and cauldrons, and associated sedimentary rocks exposed in nearby ranges. Tertiary and Quaternary basin fills form extensive exposures in the valleys.