Marine Geoscience is about the solid part: the sediment on the seafloor, the structure beneath it, the shoreline that both produce, and the record of past climate held in the layering. It is the smallest of our undergraduate science programs, which means small classes and early access to equipment that at a larger institution would be reserved for graduate students.
What you study
Earth systems and introductory oceanography first, then sedimentology, coastal geomorphology, marine geophysics and paleoceanography. The sequence is deliberately arranged so that you learn to describe sediment before you learn to interpret it, which is the reverse of how most people would prefer to do it and produces better geologists.
The core laboratory holds the department's sediment cores, including a 2024 recovery from a basin off the shelf edge with a well-preserved section from the last interglacial. Undergraduates work on real core material, not teaching sets.
Field and sea time
More than any other program here. Coastal geomorphology runs almost entirely outdoors, and geophysics takes students to sea aboard R/V Cascadia Strait to run survey lines and process the results themselves.
Where it leads
Geotechnical and survey work, offshore site characterization, coastal management, environmental consulting, and graduate study in geology, geophysics or paleoclimate. The offshore energy sector — including wind — hires heavily from this discipline and students are often surprised how directly the training transfers.
What to expect
Weather, mud, and long days on a shoreline in conditions nobody would choose. There is a standing offer to any undergraduate willing to spend a semester describing core sections, which has never produced a queue.