Hydrogeology [website]

The hydrogeology/environmental geology program dates from 1961 and enjoys a national reputation. It is undergoing a rejuvenation with the addition of two new faculty members in the coming year. Its graduates are among the nation's most outstanding hydroscientists, academics and consultants. Students may either select class work available in a number of departments to obtain breadth or elect to focus their studies to gain competence along narrower fields of study. Thesis and dissertation topics may emphasize field, laboratory or theoretical developments. Opportunities exist to develop hydroscience interests in a wide range of topics including fluid flow and solute transport processes, GIS, aqueous geochemistry, organic geochemistry, environmental geophysics, environmental geology, mining and energy, radioactive waste isolation, forest hydrology, soil physics and chemistry, and environmental engineering while maintaining strength in other more traditional aspects of hydrogeology, geology, geochemistry and geophysics. Demian Saffer will join the faculty in January 2005. His interests include the role of pore fluids within tectonically active ocean margins, along active faults and the study of methane and water production within High Plains coal deposits. Kamini Singha will join the department in fall 2005. Her research focuses on the integration of near-surface geophysical data with more standard hydrologic testing to help characterize local-scale hydrogeologic processes and calibrate hydrologic models.

Petroleum Geosystems [website]

The Petroleum GeoSystems Initiative is an interdisciplinary Master's Degree educational model that links the Department of Energy and GeoEnvironmental Engineering (Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Section), the Department of Geosciences, and corporate partners. Graduate students are sponsored by industry, formed into research teams focused on applied industry problems, and given the opportunity to intern with sponsoring companies. The Petroleum GeoSystems Initiative recognizes that many fundamental research problems lie at the interface of Geosciences and Petroleum Engineering and that interdisciplinary scientists trained in problem-based collaborative research will be tomorrow's industry leaders.