Department of Geology

Wesley A. Brown, chair
Kevin Stafford, graduate advisor
Miller Science Building, Room 301
Phone: (936) 468-3701
Fax: (936) 468-2437
P.O. Box 13011, SFA Station
Nacogdoches, TX 75962
Email: geology@sfasu.edu
Web: sfasu.edu/geology

Objectives of the Department

The graduate program in geology has been designed to provide advanced studies leading to the Master of Science:

• Master of Science in geology
• Master of Science in Natural Science with a concentration in geology

Graduate Faculty

Professors

• Wesley A. Brown, Ph.D., University of Texas - El Paso, Earthquake Seismology, Environmental Geophysics and Seismotectonics
• R. LaRell Nielson, Ph.D., University of Utah, Stratigraphy, Field Geology, Sedimentary Petrology and Geomorphology

Associate Professor

• Kevin W. Stafford, Ph.D., New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology, Karst Hydrogeology, Carbonate Petrology, and Remote Sensing

Assistant Professors

• Melinda Shaw Faulkner, Ph.D., Stephen F. Austin State University, Environmental Geochemistry and Natural Resources
• Liane M. Stevens, Ph.D., University of Montana, Metaphoric Petrology, Geochronology and Structural Geology
• Julie Bloxson, Ph.D., Case Western University Reserve, Petroleum Geology and Sedimentology

Graduate Assistantships

A limited number of assistantships are available in the department to qualified students having clear admission to the Graduate School. Information regarding financial support may be obtained by contacting the chair of the department.

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to graduate status as a major in the Department of Geology, a student must have completed a bachelor’s degree equivalent to the B.S. in geology at this university. Students without this background may be admitted on a provisional basis pending the completion of courses in which they are deficient.

Facilities and Research Opportunities

Graduate student research areas and advanced laboratories are available for faculty members and student research. Major equipment includes an X-ray diffractometer, ground penetrating radar, cesium-vapor magnetometer, ground conductivity meter, CG5 Autograv Gravimeter, Worden gravimeter, Geode 12 channel In-field polarization seismograph, OhmMapper, AGI R8 SuperSting, UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, water quality/geochemistry lab, student and research microscopes (one of which is dedicated to cathodoluminescence research) and a core research facility (East Texas Core Repository). Ready access to the university’s mainframe and the library catalog system also are available. A scanning electron microscope is available for use by the department.

Research interests of faculty members include stratigraphy; clastic and carbonate sedimentary petrology; igneous, metamorphic and regional petrology; process mineralogy; geochemistry; structural geology; environmental geology; geophysics; hydrogeology; carbonate diagenesis; karst hydrology; remote sensing; and petroleum reservoir geology. Individual graduate studies in the areas of research listed above are available to graduate students majoring in or minoring in geology.

Programs

• Geology, M.S.

• Natural Science, Geology Concentration, M.S.

• Geology Minor