Skip Navigation

Department of Geosciences

Earth, Air, & Water

Graduate Programs

The Department of Geosciences offers MS and PhD degrees in Geosciences. Students can choose from a broad collection of sub-disciplines that generally fall under one or more of the three branches of geosciences: earth, air, and water. A formal description of the graduate program in Geosciences is given in the UNL Graduate Studies Bulletin (pp. 45 [brief]; pg. 408 [full]).

Specific Research Areas

Earth

Air

Water

  • Aquatic biogeochemistry
  • Aqueous and Sediment Biogeochemistry
    (Weber)
  • Aqueous geochemistry
    (Kettler, Weber)
  • Aquifer hydraulics and hydrogeophysics
    (Pederson, Zlotnik)
  • Atmospheric chemistry
    (Wang)
  • Chemical and physical hydrogeology
    (Pederson)
  • Chemistry-meteorology coupled modeling
  • Climate change and variability
    (Lenters, Fritz)
  • Fluvial geomorphology
    (Pederson)
  • Geochemistry
  • Geomicrobiology
    (Weber)
  • Glacial geology
  • Groundwater-surface water interactions
    (Pederson, Zlotnik)
  • Grounwater-surface water interactions
  • Hydrogeologic modeling
    (Zlotnik)
  • Hydrogeology
    (Zlotnik)
  • Hydrogeophysics and aquifer hydraulics
  • Hydrology
    (Zlotnik)
  • Hydrometeorology
    (Lenters)
  • Land-atmosphere interactions
    (Rowe, Lenters, Oglesby)
  • Limnology
    (Fritz, Lenters)
  • Micropaleontology
    (Fritz)
  • Paleoclimatology
    (Fritz)
  • Paleolimnology and paleohydrology
  • Physical and chemical hydrogeology
  • Quaternary environments
    (Fritz)
  • Stable isotope geochemistry
    (Secord)
  • Surface hydrology / ecohydrology modeling
    (Lenters)
  • Surface water - groundwater interactions
  • Surficial processes and landscape evolution
    (Pederson)

Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs

The multi-disciplinary environment of the Department encourages interactions with other UNL units including the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Biological Systems Engineering, Civil Engineering, School of Natural Resources, State Conservation and Survey Division, UNL State Museum, Center for Advanced Land Management and Information Technologies (CALMIT), and the Water Center.

Admissions

Prerequisites

Applicants must have a baccalaureate or graduate degree, two semesters of calculus, and two semesters of physics at the college level to gain admission in full standing. All applicants must submit valid GRE scores for the General Test. Applicants lacking any of these requirements may be granted provisional status until the deficiencies are cleared.

Application Deadlines

  • March 1 for fall
  • September 1 for spring
  • February 1 for summer
  • January 15 to assure consideration for financial support

Application Procedure

University Fellowships

The University offers several fellowships for which you may be eligible. Information is available here.

Departmental Facilities

Other resources for prospective grad students

Resources for international students