Tent-bound in Antarctica: Don Voigt warms up with soup. Watch short video profiles of EMS people Related Links EMS Student Center Center for Advanced Undergraduate Study and Experience Our Professors eat Pizza with undergraduates We have a lot of money for students We are wired EMS Students go places List of EMS majors List of EMS minors

The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) at Penn State is a place where scientists, engineers, and social scientists work together to study the Earth and the environment, natural resource engineering and management, and the materials that sustain and stimulate progress. We're an adventurous and interesting bunch, and we invite you to explore diverse opportuniities in our college.

Our major areas of research:

• The Atmosphere
• Energy
• Geography
• Geosciences
• Materials

EMS People do cool things

Ever heard of science diving? We drill sediment cores from beneath glacial lakes, chase storms, uncover the causes of urban poverty, turn coal into jet fuel, develp smart materials, design fuel cells, study the digital divide, and assess environmental risk. Our undergraduates learn early that getting involved in research and independent study enriches their academic experience. All EMS majors feature opportunites for individual and group research projects. Most programs culminate in an undergraduate research thesis or capstone design course in the senior year.

EMS graduates make the world a better place.

EMS aims to shape the future, and its graduates often do. As an engineer in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, you might help to find energy solutions for the future. As a meteorologist, you could increase the warning time for tornados. As a geographer, you could help an urban community understand how census data affect representation. As a materials scientist, you might improve the function of an artificial heart.

EMS students go places.

Intellectually and geographically. "In EMS, there are alway opportunities for travel," says geosciences major Garth Llewellyn. The College's Center for Advanced Undergraduate Studies and Experience (CAUSE) promotes and funds special courses and travel experieinces for students. The CAUSE prject - a six credit interdisciplinary course the focuses on a complex issue relevant to science, technology and society - takes students beyond the classroom and into the lab and the field where they learn what it takes to solve real scientific, social and engineering problems. CAUSE students have traveled to New Zealand to study naturla disasters, Egypt and Greece to see the intersection of geology and archaeology, Colorado and California to explore energy choices for the new millennium, the Florida Keys to examine coral reefs, Appalachia to understand poverty, and England to uncover the roots of the Industrial Revolution.

EMS Academic Majors

• Meteorology
• Geography
• Geoscience
• Earth Sciences
• Materials Science and Engineering with options in polymers, metals*, ceramics*, and electronic and photonic materials*
• Environmental Systems Engineering*
• Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering*
• Industrial Health and Safety

* Accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)

EMS Academic Minors

• Global Business Strategies for the Earth, Energy, and Materials Industries
• Geography
• Geographic Information Science
• Information Science and Technology for the Earth and Mineral Sciences
• Climatology
• Polymer Science
• Watersheds and Water Resources
• Earth Systems
• Marine Sciences
• Industrial Health and Safety
• Mining Engineering
• Astrobiology
• Geosciences
• Meteorology
• Electronic and Photonic Materials

The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
The Pennsylvania State University © 2002
U.Ed.# EMS 02-17

Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce. This site is maintained by the Office of the Dean, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Please contact webmaster@ems.psu.edu if you have questions about this site. Last updated .