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River Basins Research

Mapping Program

Remote Sensing and GIS

Research Facilities

The Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at Furman University has a faculty of five Ph.D.s actively engaged in research. The department offers degrees in Earth Science or Environmental Science. Typical class size for the major courses is around five to ten and the ratio of seniors to faculty is a low two to one. This assures the student of the close personal attention that is lacking in larger programs. At the same time, the department is exceptionally well equipped with the modern analytical instrumentation needed for solving today's environmental problems.

Two of our faculties are actively engaged in watershed research, an area of great importance today. Recent grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the National Science Foundation have provided funding for a long-term study of the Lower Broad River Basin in South Carolina. The Furman University campus is located within this more than 8,000 square kilometer basin providing for a number of research projects in which our students are actively engaged. This research is an interdisciplinary project and involves faculty and students from the departments of biology, chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, economics, political science, and sociology.

Two other faculty members are actively engaged in geologic mapping in the Upstate of South Carolina along the Blue Ridge Front with support from the South Carolina Geological Survey.

Central to our program is the engaging of our students into our research projects. Each major is required for graduation to complete an original piece of research. This is usually as a part of a faculty's ongoing research. Each student is urged to present the results of their research at national and/or regional professional meetings. As an example, one of our majors presented a poster session on her work at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Toronto, Canada and three majors presented at the 2000 meeting in Denver, Colorado. This exposure and experience has proven to be important in helping the student in applying to graduate schools.

Finally, Earth and Environmental Science is best studied in the field. Because of this we conduct field trips throughout the year. These range from local or regional trips to longer trips taken during vacation periods to such places as the Bahamas, Newfoundland, Western U.S., and Canada. We are currently looking into organizing a trip to Puerto Rico.

If you are interested in studying the Earth and you enjoy interacting with nature, consider joining us for four years as you prepare for a career in Earth and environmental science. You may contact us at (864) 294-2052 if you have any questions.