The undergraduate minor in geoscience requires a minimum of 15 s.h. in earth and environmental sciences courses, including 12 s.h. in courses considered advanced for the minor offered by the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Iowa. EES:2410 Mineralogy, EES:2831 Geologic Field Methods, and all earth and environmental sciences courses numbered 3000 or above are considered advanced for the minor. Students must maintain a grade-point average of at least 2.00 in all courses for the minor and in all UI courses for the minor. Coursework in the minor may not be taken pass/nonpass.
College-level courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology usually are required as collateral work for geoscience students. Those seeking a minor in geoscience should be sufficiently prepared in the areas of supporting sciences before they take advanced courses in geoscience.
Recommended advanced courses in earth and environmental sciences that deal with important areas of earth materials and earth processes are as follows.
| Course # | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| EES:2410 | Mineralogy | 4 |
| EES:2831 | Geologic Field Methods | 3 |
| EES:3020 | Earth Surface Processes | 3 |
| EES:3060 | Ecology and Natural History of Iowa | 3 |
| EES:3070 | Marine Ecosystems and Conservation | 3 |
| EES:3080 | Introduction to Oceanography | 2 |
| EES:3100 | Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing | 4 |
| EES:3210 | Principles of Paleontology | 3 |
| EES:3300 | Sedimentary Geology | 4 |
| EES:3360 | Soil Genesis and Geomorphology | 3 |
| EES:3380 | Fluvial Geomorphology | 3 |
| EES:3390 | Integrated Watershed Analysis | 3 |
| EES:3500 | Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology | 4 |
| EES:3608 | Planetary Geology | 3 |
| EES:3840 | Structural Geology | 4 |
| EES:4490 | Elements of Geochemistry | 3 |
| EES:4790 | Applied Environmental Geology | 3 |
| EES:4800 | Global Geophysics | 3 |
| EES:4820 | Tectonics and Basin Analysis | 3 |