SDSU - Department of Geological Sciences

Joint Doctoral Program

This page has been accessed

times since
December 15th, 2004
Stats

Honors and Awards | Calendar of Events

Chairman's Welcome

Welcome to Geological Sciences at San Diego State University. For more than 75 years, the Department has provided outstanding educational opportunities for students leading to successful careers in government, business, industry and teaching. Water, energy and natural resources are at the forefront of societal concerns, and the Department's General Education courses serve thousands of students each year helping to provide the country with an environmentally responsible and scientifically literate electorate. The Bachelors of Science degree options are based on an advanced academic core curriculum distinguished by a senior thesis requirement that promotes a collaborative student-faculty atmosphere and prepares students for top graduate school programs. The Masters of Science program is likewise one of the most successful in the country preparing students for high trajectory career paths as well as more advanced academic studies. Beginning in 2010, the Geophysics Program of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD and the Department of Geological Sciences at SDSU will offer a Joint Doctoral Program in Geophysics focused on earthquake science and applied geophysics. Graduates of the JDP will be prepared to assume leadership roles in universities, government, and industry. If you are considering a science course, interested in pursuing a major, or contemplating graduate school, please explore this web site for more information and feel free to contact us or to come by and visit. We look forward to hearing from you!

Dr. David L. Kimbrough
Department Chair

Social Feed

SDSU Geology on Facebook

Spotlight

Dr. Steven Day & Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Fault and Earthquake System Dynamics" 10.11.2011

Dr. John Crockett Receives a grant for "Regional Energy Innovation and Commercialization" 10.06.2011

Dr. Eric Frost Receives a grant for "Potential Impact and Mitigation Strategies for Overlap of L-Band, 4th -generation Wireless and INMARSAT BGANs in the San Diego Backcountry" 09.08.2011

Dr. Kim Olsen & Dr. Steven Day Receives a grant for "Geoinformatics: A Petascale Cyberfacility for Physics-based Seismic Hazard Analysis (PetaSHA-3)" 08.15.2011

Dr. Thomas Rockwell & Dr. Gary Girty Receives a grant for "Collaborative Research: Structural Architecture and Evolutionary Plate-Boundary Processes Along the San Jacinto Fault Zone" 08.09.2011

Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "Exploring the Likelihood of Earthquake Ruptures on the San Andreas Fault Breaking through the San Gorgonio Pass Area by Using Dynamic Rupture Simulations and the Community Fault Model" 07.19.2011

Dr. Aaron Pietruszka Receives a grant for "Collaborative Research: Magnetic Evolution of Kilauea Volcano: Past, Present and Future" 06.29.2011

Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "Exploring the Probability of Fault-to-Fault Jumps During Earthquake Ruptures by Using Three- Dimensional Dynamic Simulations" 06.27.2011

Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "Rupture Dynamics, Validation of the Numerical Simulation Method" 06.27.2011

Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Correlation of Peak Dynamic and Static Coulomb Failure Stress with Seismicity Rate Change after the M7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake SCEC#11140" 06.27.2011

Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Rupture and Ground Motions Near an Extensional Stepover on the San Jacinto Fault with Validation from Precariously Balanced Rocks: Collaborative Research with UC Riverside and San Diego State University" 06.27.2011

Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "Extraction of Station-to-Station Green's Functions Using Seismic Coda in Southern California" 06.27.2011

Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "Characterization of Earthquake Slip Distribution on the Northern Coyote Creek Strand of the San Jacinto Fault Using LiDAR and Field Mapping" 05.31.2011

Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Validation of Finite Fault Simulations Using Broadband Synthetics Based on Low-Frequency Dynamic Rupture Propagation and High-Frequency Scattering Green's" 05.24.2011

Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "Characterization of Pulverized Granitoids in the Little Rock Core Along the San Andreas Fault" 05.16.2011

Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "Collaborative Research: Paleoseismology of the Borrego and Pescadores faults in Northern Baja California: Characterizing the Past Rupture History of a Complex Transtentional Fault Zone" 05.16.2011

Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "Development of a Holocene Earthquake Record for the Northern San Jacinto Fault Zone From a New Paleoseismic site at Mystic Lake: Collaborative Research with CSU Long Beach, SDSU, and CSU San Bernardino" 05.16.2011

Dr. George Jiracek Receives a grant for "Geothermal Assessment of the Middle Rio Grande Rift in New Mexico - National Geothermal Student Competition" 03.14.2011

Dr. John Crockett Receives a grant for "Regional Energy Innovation and Commercialization" 03.07.2011

Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "The Role of Sediments in Rupture Dynamics of Tsunami Earthquakes and Tsunami Generation" 02.22.2011

Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Fully Nonlinear Modeling of Strong Ground Motion From M7.0 Earthquakes on the Salt Lake City Segment of the Wasatch Fault, Utah: Request for Supplemental Funding" 02.08.2011

Dr. Steven Day Receives a grant for "Earthquake Rupture Simulations: Thermo-mechanical Models, and Validation with Strong Motion Data" 01.20.2011

Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "A Long Record of Earthquakes with Timing and Displacements for the Imperial Fault: A Test of Earthquake Recurrence Models" 01.11.2011

Archives

News and Events

05.02.2013

SDSU AAPG 2013 Student Chapter Video

SDSU's video is one of 11 videos submitted for the 2013 AAPG Student Chapter YouTube Video contest. $1,000 for the top video, $300 for 2nd and $100 for 3rd place. Please view, share, and go to the AAPG Student Programs page and like it!, most views/likes wins! AAPG Video Contest Facebook Post

05.01.2013

May 8th, 2013
Room: CSL422

Karl Bloor	Seismic geomorphology of Miocene carbonate sedimentation in the Browse Basin, North West Shelf, Australia M.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. David Kimbrough May 8th, 2013, 8:00am
Nicole Velasco	The Criticality of Coulomb Wedge and Efficiency of Tsunami Generation M.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Shuo Ma May 8th, 2013, 8:45am
Kendra Gebhart	Estimating elemental mass changes during the conversion of corestones to saprock: Implications for the mobility and fractionation of the REE in a Mediterranean (hot summer) climate B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Gary Girty May 8th, 2013, 9:40am
Dawn Wright	Using sieving to deconstruct the regolith: A first attempt B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Gary Girty May 8th, 2013, 10:00am
Joanna Rose	The use of trace element abundances from Loihi Seamount to investigate the chemical heterogeneity of the Hawaiian mantle plume B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Aaron Pietruszka May 8th, 2013, 10:20am
Ken Haase	Determining the Effectiveness of Small Scale Volcano Hazard Mapping and Lahar Education for Rural Villages in Central Java, Indonesia B.S. Candidate Advisors Dr. David Kimbrough, Dr. D. Karanwati, Dr. P. Wilopo May 8th, 2013, 10:40am
Heather Teets	Groundwater Monitoring Optimization Plan for the Chatham Brothers Barrel Yard, Escondido, California B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Kathy Thorbjarnarson May 8th, 2013, 11:00am
Alexandra Lechnowskyj	Analysis and Comparison of Cold Water Springs - Cuyamaca Rancho State Park B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Kathy Thorbjarnarson May 8th, 2013, 11:20am
Michelle Baroldi	Analysis of Major Cations and Anions of Cold Springs in the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Kathy Thorbjarnarson May 8th, 2013, 11:40am
Dylan Thomas	Structural architecture of the termination of the Powerline Fault, San Felipe Hills, southern California: A Geometric and Clay Mineral Analysis B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Aaron Pietruszka May 8th, 2013, 1:00pm
Faithe Lovelace	First study of corestone-saprock development within NE-block San Jacinto fault, Anza, California: Implications for the genesis of clastic sediment derived from granodiorite – quartz monzodiorite B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Gary Girty May 8th, 2013, 1:20pm
Brian Rockwell	Linear compositional modeling and the statistical significance of alteration intensity factors, Clark segment, San Jacinto fault zone, Horse Canyon, California: Implications for the illite/smectite to illite transition and the development of fault zones at shallow crustal levels B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Gary Girty May 8th, 2013, 1:40pm
Eman Ramos	Evaluation of Rivertools GIS Software for Stream-Profile Analysis of the Irish Hills, San Luis Obispo County, California B.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Thomas Rockwell May 8th, 2013, 2:00pm
William Munson	Correlation of volcanic and plutonic activity in convergent margin arcs: Insight from the age and geochemistry of igneous clasts from the Cretaceous forearc basin Rosario and Valle Groups of the Peninsular Ranges magmatic arc of southern and Baja California M.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. David Kimbrough May 8th, 2013, 2:30pm
Robert Gallardo	Groundwater Impact Analysis from the 2006 Eruption of the LUSI Mud Volcano, Java, Indonesia M.S. Candidate Advisor Dr. Eric Frost May 8th, 2013, 3:15pm

04.28.2013

Geological Sciences Presents
Lessons Learned from the March 11, 2011 Tohoku-oki Earthquake and Tsunamis

Koji Okumura
Graduate School of Letters, Hiroshima University
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
CSL 422 - 1:00pm

The 2011 March disaster in Japan occurred on the edge between the known and the unknown. That means earthquake and tsunamis of unknown magnitude hit the area prepared for those of known magnitude. Knowledge on extreme natural hazards may derive from experience, history, and geology but incomplete. Confidence on the knowledge as well as lack of the knowledge resulted in severe disasters. Northern half of the areas severely damaged by the Tsunami, the Sanriku rocky coast area was the best-in-the-world prepared for huge tsunamis reflecting experiences in 1896, 1933, and 1960 tsunamis. more...

04.20.2013

Geological Sciences Presents
Geotechnical Issues Associated with the Panama Canal Expansion Project, Panama

David Schug
URS Corporation
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
CSL 422 - 1:00pm

The Panama Canal expansion project started in 2007 with the goal of doubling the capacity of the canal by 2014 by allowing more and larger ships to transit. Dave Schug was one of several URS Corporation geologists involved in geotechnical studies critical to the design of earthquake resistant dams across active faults in the region. He worked with Panama Canal Authority (ACP) geologists during the site characterization studies and borrow material investigations. more...

03.21.2013

ANNUAL BANQUET - APRIL12th, 2013
sponsored by
SDSU GEOLOGY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
(aka "FRIENDS OF THE DEPARTMENT)

This year's banquet will be held at Holiday Inn Mission Valley Stadium on Murphy Canyon Road in San Diego. The Friday evening event begins with a social hour at 6pm and dinner at 7pm. The meal will be followed by a program, with presentations to and by this year's recipients of the Baylor Brooks Honored Alumni Award. The deserving honoree is Mr. Mike Bemis, recently retired from Ninyo and Moore, Geotechnical and Environmental Consultants. more...

More News and Events

Department Calendar

View the Department Calendar

View the SDSU Academic Calendar

Note: documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) require Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher to view.
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader.

5500 Campanile Dr • 237 Geology Mathematics and Computer Science Building • San Diego • CA 92182-1020 • (619) 594-5586
If you need assistance, contact Geological Sciences at 619-594-5586, email: geology@mail.sdsu.edu
or visit us on campus GMCS-237. Our office hours are 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday