Summer 2021 Marine Geology Dauphin Island Sea Lab – Click Here to Register!

Classes I teach regularly include…

Geological Sciences (GEO) and/or Geography (GY)

​GEO 101 – The Dynamic Earth (4 hrs.): Study of the earth including materials, internal and external processes, deformational events, and plate tectonics. This course has both a lecture and lab component.

​GEO 105 – Sustainable Earth (4 hrs.): This class is meant to provide an understanding of important earth resources (rocks and minerals, soil, water, fossil fuels, alternative energy) and how their utilization by humans impacts the environment. Includes discussion of water pollution, coastal and land resource management issues, air pollution and waste disposal as primary issues related to resource utilization. This course has both a lecture and lab component.

GY 102 – Earth Surface Processes (4 hrs.):  This is a survey class for majors and non-majors that provides an introduction to the physical processes operating at or near the Earth’s surface that contribute to landform and landscape development. Human impacts on the environment, natural hazards, and natural resource management are themes discussed throughout the course. This course has both a lecture and lab component.

GY/GEO 363 – Geomorphology (3 hrs.): This cross-listed course covers the processes that form and create major geomorphic systems (coastlines, rivers, glaciers, etc.) at the surface of our planet and provides a more detailed examination of soils and weathering processes, and an introduction to landscape evolution processes. Application of geomorphology to understanding environmental change is also discussed. GY 102 or GEO 101 is a prerequisite.

Marine Sciences (MS) – Dauphin Island Sea Lab

MS 304 – Marine Geology (4 hrs.): This course is taught as part of the Marine Sciences curriculum during Summer 1 and Summer 2 at Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) and is a 5 week incredibly fun deep dive into the study of the geology of the ocean basins, continental shelves and the coast, the sediments and the sedimentary processes at work there with emphasis on the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM). Multiple overnight field trips and offshore expeditions are taken to study beach and shoreface processes, coastal geomorphology of the nGoM and management issues and sediments in Mobile Bay and offshore. Students will be introduced to the following: technical writing; conducting a research project; working as a team member; data management; concepts of marine and coastal geology; critical thinking; principles of science (hypothesis testing). Participation in overnight field trips is a part of this course, and fieldwork/research is required.