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Department of Geosciences
Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: 561-297-3250
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About the Program and Industry
The Department of Geosciences at Florida Atlantic University is housed on the Boca Raton campus and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in various subfields of the geosciences. The three main areas of focus in the department are earth systems science, human-environmental systems and geo-information science.
We are proud of the research specialties that we have developed in hydrogeology, paleontology and paleo-environments, human-environmental modeling, and urban and regional development. The Department places a strong emphasis on fieldwork, GIS, remote sensing and other analytical techniques in geospatial modeling, and encourages interdisciplinary research.
Highlights
NEW: Online Programs
MS in Geosciences, BA in Geosciences, BS in Geosciences and GIS Certificate Learn More
Geosciences now offers online M.S. in Geosciences, B.S. in Geosciences with a Geography focus and B.A. in Geosciences with a Geography focus degrees that will give students an understanding of not only where phenomena are located upon the Earth’s surface, but how they came to be there. Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) is emphasized to analyze these spatial relationships.
Also available to all students are fully online GIS Certificates.
Faculty and Student Research
Xavier Comas, Ph.D. with the Environmental Geophysics Lab
Xavier Comas, Ph.D. with the Environmental Geophysics Lab in the Department of Geosciences at Florida Atlantic University, uses non-invasive near-surface geophysical technologies to create images of what lies beneath the Earth's surface in an effort to map the peatlands and understand how sea level rise would affect them. Link to watch Dr. Comas' video
Dr. Comas' current research includes the use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), terrain conductivity, electrical resistivity and induced polarization (IP) for environmental applications with emphasis in wetlands and karst environments
Matt McClellan: A Better Way to Probe Peat
Ph.D. Student Matt McCllan employs a technology called ground-penetrating radar (GPR), which uses high-frequency radar pulses to quickly and noninvasively create below-the-surface images. Matt and his team led by Dr. Xavier Comas used GPR to determine the volume of peat in several depressional wetlands in the Disney Wilderness Preserve in Florida. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EO089929