Earth Sciences

Department Chairperson: Dr. Timothy H. Heaton

Earth Sciences
Akeley–Lawrence Science Center, Room 201
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, S.D. 57069
Phone: 605-677-5649
http://www.usd.edu/earthsciences

Departmental Faculty

Professor:

Timothy H. Heaton, Department Chairperson, Ph.D., Harvard University. Specialization: Vertebrate Paleontology.

Associate Professor:

Brennan Jordan, Ph.D., Oregon State University. Specialization: Petrology

Assistant Professor:

Mark Sweeney, Ph.D., Washington State University, Specialization: Sedimentology

Degrees:

Earth Science courses support many programs.

Courses Available to Graduate Students:

Earth Sciences
Meteorology
Oceanography

Program Description

Supporting course work for graduate students encompasses the subject areas of Earth Science and Oceanography with cross-listings in Biology. There are significant research facilities available to students who take course work in Earth Sciences. The Earth Sciences Program and the South Dakota Geological Survey occupy adjacent quarters in the Akeley-Lawrence Science Center on The University of South Dakota campus. The close working relationship between these two organizations results in augmentation of the programs of each by means of sharing facilities, equipment, and personnel. Available to the students are the usual sample preparation, mineral separation, thin section, paleontology, and photographic laboratories, supplemented by binocular, computer controlled, and petrographic microscopes and accessories. An X-ray diffractometer, an atomic absorption spectrometer, and a water quality laboratory are operated by the State Geological Survey.