Doing a lot more with less might serve as an appropriate slogan for The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) geology program.
With just four full-time faculty members teaching the curriculum at this time, USM still managed to rank No. 9 nationally among universities with the highest number of students passing the Fundamentals of Geology exam. The exam is administered by the National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG).
Students in the USM program must take the exam to earn a degree, but are not required to pass the test. However, earning a passing grade helps graduates enter a licensing program and makes them more competitive for potential jobs.
In the latest ASBOG rankings, the average number of faculty per program is 24, with 72 percent of those offering doctoral programs. USM offers undergraduate and master’s degree programs in geology. Dr. Jeremy Deans, Assistant Professor of geology, credits the students for helping to elevate the program.
“This type of ranking is really a testament to our students. We try to prepare them the best we can through coursework and exam preparation reviews, but they are the ones that put in the extremely hard work in classes and getting ready for the exam,” said Deans. “This is even more impressive when you look at the size of our program, the number of faculty that we have, and that most students who enter our program have a somewhat lower average ACT score compared to most other universities – especially those on the list.”
There are currently 30 students enrolled in USM’s undergraduate geology program and 10 enrolled in the master’s program. Deans notes that in many states, including Mississippi, geology is only taught through middle school. Thus, many high school students do not think of geology as a viable major and career path.
“We have plenty of room to grow as a program at Southern Miss, and there are several career opportunities in this state, region, across the country, and internationally for geologists, and the need is only growing,” he said.
A geology major studies the physical aspects of Earth and the forces acting upon it. That includes close examination of the solids, liquids and gasses that have shaped the Earth’s surface over time, making up its natural resources or hazards and constituting its ecosystems. This is not simply a study of rocks, but often a wider exploration of the Earth’s history, chemistry and physics.
Geology graduates can use their skills to conduct research in the field, coordinate work around natural resources or make maps and charts for use in public and private industry. Geologists are involved in many areas, including environmental monitoring and clean-up, petroleum exploration and extraction, mining exploration and extraction, water resource management, and even doing initial surveys of large municipal projects like roads, bridges, dams, and large buildings.
The Fundamentals of Geology exam is given in the same format, the same time, and the same day across 34 states and Puerto Rico. The premise is that if one wants to practice as a geologist in any of these 34 states and Puerto Rico, he/she must become a registered professional geologist (RPG) and this process begins by passing the FG exam. Not all arms of geology fall under this licensing, but most government, state and federal, and environmental work do.
“We do stress the importance of the exam and point to recent graduates at the BS and the MS level that have received a job because they passed the exam, or in some cases, even got a raise because they passed the exam,” said Deans. “To help students prepare for the exam, we do offer study sessions hosted by our student organization, the Southern Geological Society, where each faculty member will meet with the students planning to take the exam for a review process.”
When evaluating the USM geology program in 2021, a quote from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” might ring appropriate: “Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
“Our program has had a lot of changes of faculty with several people joining the program and then leaving soon after,” said Deans. The last five or six years we have finally had some stability, and the four faculty here – myself, Dr. Alyson Brink, Dr. Frank Heitmuller, and Dr. Mark Puckett – have formed a great team that has led to this ranking. I also think this stability has allowed our program to gain a better reputation in the region, leading to a more robust undergraduate and graduate program. But we are still building.”
To learn more about the geology program at USM, call 601.266.4748 or visit: https://www.usm.edu/undergraduate-programs/geology.php
