Departments/Centers

Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Department of

The Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science at Miami University is a vibrant mixture of geologists with diverse specialties and world-class research projects. Along with a wide range of courses and a choice of majors, geology students can work with professors who maintain active research programs in geomicrobiology, geomorphology, hydrogeology, igneous petrology, isotope geochemistry, low-temperature geochemistry, geophysics, mineralogy and crystallography, mineral surface geochemistry, paleobiology, sedimentology and stratigraphy, structural geology, tectonics, and volcanology.

Dubois Field Station

The department's capstone course (GLG 411A - Field Geology) is a 5-week field methods course. For two weeks of the course, participants travel to several spectacular locations in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. The remainder of the course takes place at Timberline Ranch near Dubois, Wyoming, where Miami's geologists have been teaching field mapping since 1946. This course will provide you with an immersive experience that encourages you to integrate everything you have learned in previous geology courses, and it is almost universally considered to be the most challenging and memorable experience of undergraduate studies.

Geography, Department of

The Department of Geography's faculty offers courses covering a wide range of geographic inquiry. In recent years, the number of our majors in Geography and Urban and Regional Planning has increased to well over 100, while the Master's Degree program has 9 students with full Graduate Assistantships. Geography faculty are leading scholars with national and international reputations. The department has excellent facilities and equipment to assist in the learning process.

Environment and Sustainability, Institute for

The Institute for the Environment & Sustainability educates students as professionals and global citizens through interdisciplinary programs in environmental science and sustainability, and provides leadership in areas of research and outreach that address environmental problems and promote a more sustainable society. The IES administers 3 undergraduate co-majors, 1 minor, and 1 professional master's degree.

Ecology Research Center

The Ecology Research Center (ERC) is the focal point for ecological field research at Miami University and provides a venue for educational opportunities for middle, high school, and university students. This 69-hectare field station contains a diversity of field sites and facilities that support both aquatic and terrestrial research.

Geospatial Analysis Center

The Geospatial Analysis Center (GAC) in Shideler Hall provides a wide range of software, high capacity microcomputers, digitizers, databases, and output devices dedicated to acquisition and analysis of spatial information (GIS, satellite remote sensing). The GIS Laboratory has a full-time director, and instruction is available at several levels.

Aquatic and Watershed Sciences, Center for

The Center for Aquatic and Watershed Sciences (CAWS) was established to promote research and education on the linkages between watersheds and aquatic ecosystems. CAWS brings together faculty, students and staff from several departments in a collaborative environment to address these and many other questions related to watersheds and aquatic ecosystems.

Museums

Herbarium, Willard Sherman Turrell

The Willard Sherman Turrell Herbarium is Ohio's largest herbarium. The herbarium's holdings of approximately 620,000 specimens are global in both geographic and taxonomic coverage. The collection includes plant fossils, wood specimens, and anatomical and palynological microscope slides. There are several thousand type specimens contained in the collection, as well as many bound sets of cryptogamic exsiccatae.

Natural History, Hefner Museum of

The Robert A. Hefner Museum of Natural History emphasizes the biota of Southwest Ohio. It seeks to develop in its constituencies an understanding of, and appreciation for, biodiversity, conservation, and ecology through the systematic collection, care, and display of specimens for exhibition, research, and education.