Earth sciences

An earth sciences degree offers a high return on investment through low unemployment rates and opportunities to work on critical environmental, climate, and natural resource issues. Graduates can pursue careers as diverse as environmental consultants, hydrologists, geochemists, geophysicists, or in roles within the energy sector or federal government agencies like the EPA. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in earth and environmental science are projected to grow by 3–6% between 2024–2034.  

An earth sciences degree from SMU prepares you for diverse careers in environmental consulting, energy, mining, and government agencies like the U.S. Geological Survey or NASA. Specific fields include environmental protection and consulting; natural resource management; air and water quality monitoring; geological hazards and geotechnical investigations; water and power-generation utilities; and meteorology, hydrology and oceanography. An earth sciences degree also provides excellent training for graduate programs.

It all depends on your career aspirations.

The Bachelor of Arts in earth sciences gives you a broad understanding of the earth sciences, allowing for interdisciplinary study. It allows for more flexibility in electives, making it an excellent choice for a double major – ideal if you are interested in environmental policy, environmental journalism, education, or law.

A Bachelor of Science in earth sciences, in comparison, is more appropriate if you want to go into technical geological work or pursue a graduate program in the sciences. It focuses heavily on specialized, technical skills and is more field-intensive than a Bachelor of Arts, making it better suited for careers in oil, gas and environmental consulting.  

One two-week field trip is required for either degree. These fieldwork trips earn two or three hours’ credit and have included locations in the Caribbean, Hawaii, the Grand Canyon, Lake Superior (in Canada), New Mexico or Colorado.

There are six research facilities and labs in the Earth Sciences Department at SMU.

• The Stable Isotope Laboratory fosters the applications of light-stable isotopes of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen to problems in geology and archaeology.
• The Shuler Museum of Paleontology is a research facility that is also home to teaching collections of fossil invertebrates, vertebrates and plants.
• The SMU Geothermal Lab studies use of geothermal energy through ongoing research and projects such as the Geothermal Map of North America and the National Geothermal Data System.
• The Paleobotany Lab supports the preparation and study of plant fossils.
• The Radar Laboratory includes research on volcano monitoring, land subsidence and wetland mapping.
• The Materials Characterization Lab houses electron microscopes, spectrometers, and equipment used for sample preparation and measurement, and the analysis of metals, rocks and soils. 

Earth science focuses more on geology, the Earth and its history, and geophysical composition. Study includes things such as plate tectonics, rocks, mineral resources and climate. Environmental science, on the other hand, is an interdisciplinary area of study that focuses on the effects of humans on the natural world. It incorporates biology, chemistry and geology to specifically address ecology, environmental policy and hazardous waste management. Earth science applications are in resource exploration, geological surveying or climate research. Environmental science leans more toward roles in sustainability, environmental consulting, impact assessment and pollution control.

Earth science is a very flexible, interdisciplinary applied science that integrates well with other fields. It attracts students with broad interests in geology, chemistry, biology, environmental science, archaeology, astronomy, oceanography, engineering, applied mathematics or physics. Combined majors are strongly encouraged! In addition to combinations with the above fields, many undergraduate earth science majors have double majors or minors in business – particularly finance, real estate or marketing – as well as economics, pre-law, computer science, archaeology, world languages, English, history, journalism and pre-med.

The highest paid managerial role in earth sciences is a natural sciences manager, with a median annual salary of $161,180 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is followed closely by geoscientists in the oil and gas and mining industries, who earn a median annual salary of $148,760. Top earners in this role may have salaries exceeding $178,880 a year.