Research

Areas of research

Geology faculty at TAMUCC are actively engaged in research. This assures that the content of the program remains up to date and provides undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience. Areas of research include marine geology, geochemistry, hydrogeology, remote sensing, planetary geology, sedimentary geology, and science education. Details can be found on the faculty websites. Many projects are collaborative with other faculty members in the College of Science and Technology. In fact, the unique organization of the department facilitates and encourages interdisciplinary research.

Faculty and students also collaborate with the Center for Water Supply Studies, a state-sponsored research center located on campus. The center is engaged in assessing ground- and surface water resources in South Texas.

Opportunities for collaboration also exist with the Center for Coastal Studies, the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science, the Shoreline Environmental Research Facility, the Harte Research Institute of Gulf of Mexico Studies, and faculty in the Department of Computing Sciences, which includes the Program in Geographic Information Science.

Facilities

A wet lab for sediment analyses and hydrogeologic studies is located in the Center for Water Supply Studies. An environmental geochemistry lab with a newly acquired powder X-ray diffractometer, research-grade petrographic microscope, and cathodoluminescence stage is available in the newly constructed Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. Computing facilities with software for hydrogeologic modeling, GIS, and seismic interpretation are available in the Center for Water Supply Studies. A dedicated GIS lab, housing the NASA Beowulf computer cluster, is operated by the Program in Geographic Information Science and located in NRC 2100.