At least two of the committee members will be chosen from geology faculty whose areas of expertise coincide with the research interests of the student. Each student must complete a minimum of 18 credit hours in Geology courses, including 1 credit hour of GEOL 5001 Graduate Seminar, in additon to the six credit hours for the thesis. Students who have completed some or all of these core courses as part of their undergraduate program must substitute additional elective courses, as approved by their thesis committee, to fulfill the minimum required 24 credit hours of course work. To complete the requirements for the degree, the candidate must complete all course work with a grade-point average of 3.00, submit an acceptable thesis, and pass a comprehensive examination based primarily on a defense of the student's thesis. Areal patterns of modern urban regions and the focus shaping these patterns.
Emphasis is placed on American urban areas and their evolution and functional areas.
Natural resources of the state, its leading occupations, and its geographic regions. Contemporary world political problems in their geographic context. Development of the principles of political geography with emphasis upon the problems of Eastern Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Supervised experience in municipal, county, state or private natural resource management agency, or any other such organization approved by instructor. Offered as physical science.