Learn Geology By Doing Geology!

Students collecting Brunton measurements in Idaho

Program Overview

About Our Programs

Located on the edge of the Canadian Shield and Michigan Basin , we offer a highly innovative, project-centered curriculum that was developed with the financial support of the National Science Foundation. Our classes and field courses emphasize learning through active participation and hands-on experience. The small size of our program fosters a close, personal relationship among students and between students and faculty. Our very active Geology Club organizes regular social activities and local field trips. Students also have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty on research in fields such as geomagnetics, paleoclimatology, and hydrogeology, and paleontology.

Hands-on Learning

Our program also engages students in extended field trips in which students actively experience hands-on work with other unique geologic environments in North America. The map below shows the field sites visited by LSSU Geology students over the past three years. Travel to these exciting geological provinces is a part of every student’s sophomore and senior year. Students routinely work with the world-class geology of the Black Hills and also visit such places as Death Valley and southern Appalachians.

Senior Projects & Undergraduate Research

Our Geology program is at the forefront of developing innovative geoscience curriculum and assessment of student learning. We emphasize active hands-on student learning and this includes active involvement in undergraduate research. The opportunities available at LSSU allow undergraduate students to become actively engaged in interdisciplinary research projects that are both cutting-edge and publishable, not very common in undergraduate programs nationally. Regardless of what career path students choose upon graduation from LSSU, research at the undergraduate level is a valuable experience! Employers value research because it demonstrates the ability of a student to design and complete a project involving analytical and written skills. Graduate schools view undergraduate research experience as a head start on the skills that students will need to complete masters or Ph.D. theses.

Madeline Jazdzyk and Montana Kruske Present at the MEHA Confrence

Best Poster Award [2017]: Madeline Jazdzyk (Left) and Montana Kruske (Right) win Best Poster at the Michigan Environmental Heath Association (MEHA) Conference for their project on groundwater vulnerability.

Morgan Vanwinkle accepting the No Spills Scholarship Award

Morgan Vanwinkle (left) accepts the No Spill’s Scholarship at the Traverse City No Spills Conference with Robin Oeming (Right)

see program catalog

Why Study Geology at LSSU?

  • Nearly a 100% placement rate for graduates entering the workforce
  • Approximately 50% of all graduates are accepted to attend graduate school with most receiving partial funding
  • Students gain hands-on experience with our unique, field intensive program (80+ days of field work)
  • Active Geology Club

Facilities

The Geology Department is located in Crawford Hall. Departmental classrooms and labs are located on the second floor at the east end of the building. The Kemp Mineral Resources Museum is located on the first floor. However, geology at Lake State goes beyond the classroom. Surrounded by a diversity of local geology spanning across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and north of Sault Ste. Marie into Ontario, no other universities in Michigan have an opportunity quite like this right in their backyard. There is much to see and even more to learn, and what better classroom is there for geology than the field itself!

Our Graduates Succeed!

LSSU graduates are pursuing graduate degrees in geology at various universities around the United States:

  • Dave Tatum – Chevron Corp., New Orleans, LA (oil industry)
  • Kimberly Chauvin – CVRD Inco, Sudbury, Ontario (Copper-Nickel mining)
  • Madeline Jazdzyk – Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Gaylord
  • Anthony Rinna – Soo Tribe (Environmental Department)
  • Alyssa Bancroft – Indiana Geological Survey

LSSU has a great reputation for placing Geology students in graduate and professional schools, such as:

  • University of Illinois
  • University of Kansas
  • Colorado School of Mines

Student Stories and Achievements

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Geology at Lake State is a really strong program because of the hands-on experience that you get there. I am going to quote Dr. Kelso and say “students learn geology by doing geology”, and that is so true there. You’re definitely going to be getting your hands dirty and you’re going to be going out in the field and you’re gonna be looking at these rock outcrops. Ever since my freshman year looking at fossils all the way up to my senior year doing field classes, I loved it all!

Julia Astromovich, Graduate Student at UTEP
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Lake State has so many opportunities: you have international travel going over to Canada, the class sizes are small, and I know all of my professors very well and they’re all easy to talk to. They have helped me a lot and I don’t feel like I would have this type of interaction with a professor or even with the other people in my major if it wasn’t for Lake State’s class sizes.

Maryn Burrell, Student
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LSSU has given me so much, not only in terms of an education that has prepared me well for a future in the world of geology, but also in friends and colleagues and mentors that I’ll have for the rest of my life. Had I not made the decision to come to LSSU I would have missed out on so much. That’s what has made my Lake State experience.

Michael Potter, Student

Career Paths

  • Geologist
  • Environmental Geologist
  • Hydrologist
  • Exploration Geologist
  • Paleontologist
  • Geochemist

$92,040

Median Salary for Geoscientist
(Bureau of Labor Statistics)

100%

Placement Rate for Graduates
Entering the Workforce