Forensic Geology/Petrography is not a new tool in the construction industry; however, it is generally not a well-known discipline. Observations detailed in this course are not typically covered during university geological studies. Most of these skills are learned on the job and do require a minimum of 5 years of experience directly under a Petrographer to earn a Petrographer title.

This course delves into the key factors involved in ethical fieldwork: values, integrity, and perception, and how these affect not only fieldwork research, but also the geoscience community as a whole.

This course is intended as a basic review of seismic prospecting methods for locating and extracting oil and gas global resources. It begins with a review of world hydrocarbon reserves, production and consumption, as well as overall goals and methods which apply to petroleum exploratory efforts.

This course is designed to be an introduction to the subject of landslides or mass wasting. Landslides or mass wasting occur in both solid bedrock and in poorly-consolidated sediments. Concerning the latter, loose sands, clays and soft shales can prove to be quite problematic. These type of strata are highlighted in our discussions.

This course provides an overview of how groundwater and surface water interact, what the implications of these interactions on water resources are, and how water can be more effectively managed if an understanding of these interactions is incorporated.

No country in the world produces all of the mineral resources necessary for modern society. International trade plays a critical role in providing these raw materials, forming a global network of production, export, import, and use. This network must continuously adapt to national and international developments in science, technology, politics, and economics.

Flooding is a perennial hazard for rivers and coasts alike. Every year, flooding results in billions of dollars of damage and the loss of dozens to hundreds of lives across the United States.

Geoscience research is at the forefront of characterizing the earthquake risks associated with the Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest. This course covers the science and its implications for policy decisions and resiliency efforts.

This course provides an overview of earthquake risk in the U.S. and explores the importance of coordinated post-earthquake response and the effectiveness of post-earthquake technical clearinghouses in improving earthquake resiliency.

As humans, we're all biased. The question is not 'are we biased', the question is 'what are our biases'. We unconsciously infer things about people all the time. We do it at work on a daily basis. The challenge is that our biases are rarely blatant. Our biases may surface as subtle micro-behaviors that we often don't notice.

Construction of a computerized model to estimate mineral resources is a common practice in mineral exploration projects and mining operations. Many times a technical report is done as per international reporting standards such as NI-43-101 or JORC to meet the requirement of certain stock exchanges in the world.

The purpose of professional licensing is to ensure a minimum level of competency for practitioners in a given field in order to protect the public. Having a license to practice geology is a requirement in the majority of United States, Canada and several other countries. In contrast to other professions, a disconnect has developed between applied geologists and academia.

As the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased over recent history, so has the acidity of oceans worldwide. The changing acidity of the ocean has many ecological and economic impacts, one of the most serious being its effects on marine life and fisheries.

This course is designed to help faculty and non-academic professionals host career discussions with students. The course provides learners with specific career-related content, materials, and well-tested tools that will help in facilitating geoscience career discussions and presentations. The course will cover three main sections:

This course designed to be an introduction to the compositional classification of fine-grained sediments and sedimentary rocks and provides a foundation for bulk rock property prediction. The course begins with an overview of the basic components of sedimentary rocks that covers the terminology and particulate characteristics to consider when classifying fine-grained sedimentary rocks.

Geoscience is essential to our understanding and management of produced water, an inevitable byproduct of oil and gas development. This course provides a scientific and regulatory background of produced water, how it is commonly disposed, what opportunities exist for the re-use of produced water, and what the environmental and regulatory challenges for re-using produced waters are.

Communities that rely on surface water resources via sand and gravel wells are vulnerable to the impacts of drought on water supplies.

Everyone is in favor of good moral and professional ethical behavior but few have thought about them rigorously. What constitutes common morality and professional ethics? This course explores the basic concepts and definitions of, and the differences between, common morality and professional ethics. This includes the distinction between moral rules and moral ideals.