Eligibility Rules (from Student Handbook)
- Students with less than a C- grade in any particular geology course and/or less than a B average in geology may not take Independent Studies.
- Students who have received poor grades in regular courses may not repeat those courses as an Independent Study.
Necessary Forms for Independent Study credits:
Independent Studies (GES 2500, 3500, or 4500) have two required forms:
- CAS Independent Study Form (PDF)
- Special Course Form (PDF)
- To register for an independent study, students need to fill out both of the above forms and email it to the following (all in one email): Lauri Miller, the department chair, the faculty advisor, and casshforms@appstate.edu. Both the instructor and the chairperson will need to REPLY ALL with approval verification. CAS will then send the form to the registrar for processing
Students in the Geology Department at Appalachian State are fortunate to have numerous opportunities to engage in faculty-led research in a variety of earth science fields:
- Tectonics Research - How does the earth move?
- Water Resources Research - What processes affect water supply and quality?
- Paleontology Research - What do fossils tell us?
- Earth Surface Processes Research - What do landforms tell us? How do humans influence landscapes?
- Mineralology, Petrology and Geochemistry Research - What do the minerals in rocks tell us? What is the role they play in the environment and in past environments?
- Records of Climate Change Research - How is Earth's climate recorded in minerals, rocks, sediment, water, and ice? How has it changed through time?
Note to international applicants: the Geology Department at Appalachian State University is an undergraduate degree granting department only, and therefore we do not have opportunities for MS or PhD students.
Appalachian Geology students typically work alongside faculty both in the field (ranging from field sites on campus to sites literally on the other side of the world) as well as doing more computational/modeling/experimental/microscopy work in the lab.
Students are involved with independent research either for wages (through external grants of individual faculty members), through departmental Undergraduate Research Assistantships, or for independent study or senior thesis credit (GLY 2500, GLY 3500, GLY4501, GLY4510) for 1-3 credits per semester.