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Geology Department

As a student in the Geology Department, you will have opportunities for hands-on learning including internships, field studies, research and student teaching. You will gain skills and knowledge for employment or graduate school in the earth sciences.  You can join our alumni network that stretches from Alaska to Texas to New York in a wide range of geologic, environmental and engineering firms, government positions, and teaching positions.  

You will be in small classes led by our award-winning faculty. We will take you on field trips infused into our courses. Local trips in the scenic Finger Lakes region will focus on fossils, glacial landforms and water quality. On extended field trips, we will take you to visit prime mineral and geology sites in the Adirondack Mountains and neighboring states.

Our faculty members take particular joy in mentoring our students and are proud of their accomplishments. Our students often present their research at conferences and have co-authored papers in peer-reviewed journals.  Many of our alumni have gone on to graduate schools across the continent.



News

Innovative program seeks to spark science careers

Sept. 10, 2024
New students from underrepresented groups exposed to new science, technology, engineering and math options.

Rocking it: geology alum has meteoric success

April 30, 2024
Oxford Ph.D. student Cooper Malanoski ’19 leads important research on climate change and extinction.

Fish conservation research presented by students

April 15, 2024
Three interns were part of federal and state efforts to save the Great Lakes ecosystem.

SUNY Cortland joins effort to restore native Lake Ontario fish 

June 23, 2023
SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oswego will partner as part of a federally funded, multimillion-dollar initiative. 

Brooks Lecture Series to tackle science and truth

Feb. 17, 2023
Geologist Robert Darling will explore science as a method for testing what’s real and what’s not.

Clubs/Societies

The Geology Club at Cortland is very active and offers students an informal avenue to share experiences. The Geology Club also offers yearly excursions to points of geological interest such as mineral collecting trips in the Adirondack Mountains or local excursions to collect fossils.