Earth Sciences Carleton University

Overview

Course details

You will learn about processes (such as evolution, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, plate tectonics and mountain building, formation of hydrocarbon reservoirs and mineral deposits) influential in the Earth’s geologic past that establish our present and future global development. The Earth Sciences BSc program at Carleton University offers the opportunity to participate in hands-on field courses that can take you to sites throughout Ontario, across Canada and around the world.

Carleton University’s Department of Earth Sciences has a reputation as one of the foremost centres for solid earth sciences in Canada. We collaborate with the Geological Survey of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Ontario Geological Survey, the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Environment Canada and the University of Ottawa. You will have access to the extensive libraries of these institutions, as well as to lectures and seminars by their scientists and visiting researchers.

Carleton even has its own mineral. The mineral, named Carletonite, was discovered in 1969 at Mount St. Hilaire, Quebec, by a professor in the Earth Sciences department.

Future opportunities 

Carleton Earth Sciences graduates can be found:

• supervising diamond or gold exploration with a large mining company;

• interpreting geophysical and geological information to outline possible reservoirs of oil and gas;

• assessing earthquake hazards for engineering and construction purposes;

• studying fossil and modern organisms as indicators for environmental and climate change;

• measuring the stability of land around proposed dam and reservoir sites;

• helping to find suitable underground repositories for nuclear wastes; and

• teaching or carrying out curiosity based research.