Geology & Geological Engineering
Video
The diverse geology and paleontology of the Black Hills, and adjacent Great Plains, provides us with an extraordinary natural classroom and laboratory. Geologists from all around the world travel to study what we have right here in our own backyard. So whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, expect hands-on learning out of doors, in our labs, or doing research in affiliated facilities including the unique Sanford Underground Research Facility (a former gold mine that's now home to cutting edge neutrino research), the South Dakota Mines Engineering Mining Experiment Station, the Mining Hub, the James E. Martin Paleontology Laboratory, and the on-campus Museum of Geology.
We also operate the Black Hills Natural Sciences Field Station, one of the largest summer field camp stations in the United States, with opportunities for study in the Black Hills, western California, Montana, Utah, Arizona, Death Valley, Hawaii, Turkey, France, Spain, Nepal, Iceland, New Zealand, Morocco, and Andes-Ecuador.
The Amazing Geology of the Black Hills
Activities and Organizations
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Student Chapter
Faculty Advisor: TBA (@sdsmt.edu)
Student President: TBA (@mines.sdsmt.edu)
The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) student chapter aims to provide
its members activities that promote the knowledge of oil and gas exploration, and
to help students develop professional knowledge and ethics in preparation for careers
in petroleum geology. The chapter plans activities throughout the year to foster positive
relationships and engagement with the petroleum industry as well as prepare for and
participate in future Imperial Barrel Award competitions.
Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG) Student Chapter
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kurt Katzenstein (Kurt.Katzenstein@sdsmt.edu)
Student President: TBA (@mines.sdsmt.edu)
Since its inception in 1957, the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists
(AEG) (the society was originally called the Association of Engineering Geologists
until "Environmental" was added in 2005 to reflect important changes in the public
awareness of services provided by the association members) has been an international
leader in environmental and engineering geology, and is greatly respected for its
stewardship of the profession.
AEG is popular both within industry as well as in academia and the society offers
information useful to practitioners, scientists, engineers, students, and the public.
This student organization serves as the SD Mines Student chapter of the parent society
and was reestablished by students with an interest in these fields in 2018.
National Chapter Website: https://www.aegweb.org/
Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) Black Hills Student Chapter
Faculty Advisor: TBA (@sdsmt.edu)
Student President: TBA (@mines.sdsmt.edu)
The Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) is an international organization devoted
to enhancing the quality and level of participation of women in geosciences and to
introduce girls and young women to geoscience as a career option. Membership is open
to anyone who supports AWG's goals. Our diverse interests and expertise cover the
entire spectrum of geoscience disciplines and career paths, providing networking,
support, and mentoring for women embarking on geoscience careers. The membership is
brought together by a common love of Earth science and by the desire to ensure fair
and balance opportunities for women in the geosciences.
URL (national society): https://www.awg.org/
Paleontology Club
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Darrin Pagnac (Darrin.Pagnac@sdsmt.edu)
Student President: Hannah Walker Hannah.Walker@mines.sdsmt.edu
The Paleontology Club is an educational, scientific, and non-profit organization dedicated
to promoting paleontology in the community. Membership is open to all students with
an interest in paleontology and its related fields. The club sponsors monthly meetings,
guest lecturers, field trips, and outreach activities at the Museum of Geology and
in community classrooms.
URL: https://sdsmt.presence.io/organization/paleontology-club
Sigma Gamma Epsilon - Theta Nu
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Liangping Li (Liangping.Li@sdsmt.edu)
Student President: TBA (@mines.sdsmt.edu)
SD Mines chapter of the national honor society recognizing scholarship in the earth
sciences.
URL (national society): http://www.sigmagammaepsilon.com
Society of Economic Geologists Student Chapter
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Colin Paterson (Colin.Paterson@sdsmt.edu) and Dr. Kelli McCormick (Kelli.McCormick@sdsmt.edu)
Student President: Riley Kortenbusch (Riley.Kortenbusch@mines.sdsmt.edu)
SEG aims to provide its members with a variety of fun and service activities that
promote knowledge of mineral deposits and mineral resources, and to help students
develop professional knowledge and ethics in preparation for careers in economic geology.
The chapter plans field trips to regional mines and other localities, visits schools
to interest students in geology careers, raises funds for member activities, and sponsors
the weekly refreshments at the Friday seminars.
URL (national society): https://www.segweb.org/
Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration/Drill & Crucible (SME)
Organized through the Department of Mining Engineering and Management
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Robert Hall (Robert.Hall@sdsmt.edu) and Dr. Brett Carlson (Brett.Carlson@sdsmt.edu)
Student President: Jed Sieverding (Jed.Sieverding@mines.sdsmt.edu)
SME is a national organization that involves individuals representing companies involved
in mining, metallurgy, and exploration. We represent the SDSM&T student chapter.
URL: https://sdsmt.presence.io/organization/student-chapter-society-for-mining-metallurgy-and-exploration
Society of Petroleum Engineering (SPE) Student Chapter
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Zhi Ye (Zhi.Ye@sdsmt.edu)
Student President: Nathaniel Pfiefer (Nathaniel.Pfiefer@mines.sdsmt.edu)
The Society of Petroleum Engineering (SPE) Student Chapter links our students to a
global organization of petroleum engineering professionals involved in numerous aspects
of the industry. Student activities include field trips to active drill sites and
production facilities in the Williston and Powder River basins and informational seminars
presented by professionals in exploration, drilling, and production engineering.
URL (national society): https://www.spe.org/en/
Tech Geological Association
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kurt Katzenstein (Kurt.Katzenstein@sdsmt.edu)
Student President: TBA (@mines.sdsmt.edu)
TGA promotes student involvement in professional associations while providing a focus
for fun and profession-building activities. Each student in TGA must belong to at
least one geoscience or engineering professional organization suited to their interests.
GGE Seminars 2024-2025
Announcements
Announcements for each talk are emailed to the South Dakota Mines campus community.
If you are off campus, please subscribe to GGE_SEMINAR-L to get announcements and updates.
Seminar coordinator: Dr. Sarah Keenan
All of our department seminars are at 4:00 pm local campus time unless noted otherwise.
Date | Location | Speaker (* - online) | Organization |
---|---|---|---|
Aug-30 | No Seminar - GGE Department Fall field trip | ||
Sep-06 | PRL Atrium | GGE Department | South Dakota Mines |
Sep-13 | CB204W |
Dr. Sarah A.S. Dare |
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) |
Sep-20 | No Seminar - Rocker Days / M Day | ||
Sep-27 | No Seminar - Geological Society of America annual meeting (Anaheim, CA) | ||
Oct-4 | CB204W | Dr. Katrina Donovan | South Dakota Mines |
Oct-11 | No Seminar - Native American Day Holiday | ||
Oct-18 | CB204W | Dr. Murray Gingras | University of Alberta |
Oct-25 | CB204W | Zach Grimac | Iris Metals |
Nov-8 | No Seminar - Veterans Day Holiday Observance | ||
Nov-15 | CB204W | Dr. Sabre Moore | Carter County Museum |
Nov-22 | CBEC 2228 |
Dr. William Kibikas |
Sandia National Lab |
Nov-29 | No Seminar - Thanksgiving Holiday Break | ||
Dec-6 |
PRL Atrium |
GEOL 700 poster presentations | |
Jan-17 | No Seminar - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Holiday | ||
Jan-24 | CB204W | TBA | TBA |
Jan-31 | CB204W | Dr. Joy Buongiorno; Senior Editor | Biogeochemistry/Nature Communications |
Feb-7 | CB204W | TBA | TBA |
Feb-14 | No Seminar - President's Day Holiday Observance | ||
Feb-21 | CB204W | TBA | TBA |
Feb-28 | CB204W | TBA | TBA |
Mar-7 | No Seminar - Spring Break | ||
Mar-14 | No Seminar - Spring Break | ||
Mar-21 | CB204W | Dr. Liangping Li | South Dakota Mines |
Mar-28 | CB204W | TBA | TBA |
Apr-4 | CB204W |
Dr. Wenfeng Li |
Los Alamos National Lab |
Apr-11 | CB204W | Dr. Geoffrey Gilleaudeau | George Mason University |
Apr-18 | No Seminar - Easter Holiday Break | ||
Apr-25 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
May-2 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Grad Lunch & Learn
TBD Coordinated by GGE Graduate Representatives. Information will be added as seminars are arranged.
Contact: Dr. Trevor Waldien ( Trevor.Waldien@sdsmt.edu )
Regular meeting time: Mondays at 12:00 pm Zoom meeting link
Date | Lead | Title/Topic |
---|---|---|
TBD | Dr. Li | Meeting to vote for new student representatives |
TBD | Dr. Li | Graduate student Town Hall meeting on Zoom |
GIS Workshops
Professional GIS Workshops are offered twice a year (December/January and May/June)
Intro to GIS I and II; Switching To Pro; GIS Field Data Collection
Workshop website and registration
- Contact: Dr. Maribeth Price ( Maribeth.Price@sdsmt.edu )
GEOE/GEOL/PALE Advisory Board Meetings
Next meeting: Saturday, October 5, 2024.
- Contact: Dr. Robert Hall (Robert.Hall@sdsmt.edu)
Upcoming Workshops
Workshops |
Date |
TBA |
TBA
|
*Online attendance is supported with Zoom. (Except Field Data Collection workshop).
**Concepts discussed in workshop apply to both ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro, attendees must
select which application for lab exercises ahead of time. Fall/Winter 2023 Workshops
will be the last workshops that include the option for ArcMap instruction.
◊Receive a $100 discount by registering for both Intro to ArcGIS I, II workshops in one week.
Workshops are held in December/January and May/June. Daily schedule is 8:30am to 4:30pm Mountain Time, with an hour break for lunch.
Note: If you do not receive a GIS Workshop confirmation email within a day or two of registering, please email Victoria.Karnes@sdsmt.edu to inquire.
Workshop Descriptions
Intro to ArcGIS I: Mapping with GIS
Instructor: Victoria Karnes
Cost: $550 Course Outline (pdf)
This workshop is for people with no previous GIS experience. It covers the basics
on how ArcGIS stores and manages map data and introduces participants to making maps
and working with GIS data sets and data tables. GIS data storage, creating maps, publishing
map layouts, and working with tables are all covered. It also includes an overview
of commonly used sources of GIS data and how to adapt them for your own use. (Tuition
includes license for Mastering ArcGIS or Mastering ArcGIS Pro e-textbook)
Background required: Familiarity with Windows and Internet browsers
Intro to ArcGIS II: GIS Analysis
Instructor: Victoria Karnes
Cost: $425 Course Outline (pdf)
This workshop is for people who want an introduction to the types of spatial analysis
possible with GIS data. It introduces many key GIS techniques, including how to: do
a suitability study based on multiple criteria, analyze spatial relationships between
layers, work with topographic data, interpolate values from point data, and solve
problems using distance and neighborhood factors. (Tuition includes license for Mastering
ArcGIS or Mastering ArcGIS Pro e-textbook)
Background required: Intro to ArcGIS I workshop or equivalent experience
Field Data Collection with ArcGIS
Instructor: Victoria Karnes
Cost: $425 Course Outline (pdf)
This workshop is for people who need to learn about how to prepare GIS data for field
collection projects, collect spatially enabled data in the field, and integrate the
collected data back into the geodatabase. The course includes an brief overview of
geodetic fundamentals and geo-location technologies, and hands-on practice with ArcGIS
Online hosted technology (Survey123, QuickCapture, and Collector) using student's
personal devices. (BYOD: Bring Your Own Device)
Background required: Familiarity with the ArcGIS platform recommended but not required.
Equipment: Bad Elf handheld GPS units (provided with assistance from the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium) will be used to collect data. However, participants must bring their own phone or
tablet (iOS or Android). See ArcGIS Collector System Requirements.
Switching to ArcGIS Pro
Instructor: Maribeth Price
Cost: $250
This workshop is designed for people who already know ArcMap and ArcCatalog well and
need to quickly get up to speed on the basics in ArcGIS Pro. The course covers the
key differences in the platforms, project documents, the new GUI, integration with
ArcGIS Online, visualization in 2D and 3D, symbolizing data, geoprocessing, tables,
and layouts. The course runs for two partial days with 5 hours of live activity each
day.
Background required: Participants must already know ArcMap and ArcCatalog well. This
course is not intended for beginners to learn ArcGIS Pro. This course is no longer
offered regularly, but organizations needing training for multiple employees may contact
Maribeth.Price@sdsmt.edu to inquire about scheduling a session.
Equipment: Participants must have ArcGIS Pro installed on their computer and access
to Zoom for this online course.
About the Instructors
Victoria Karnes is the Geospatial Technology Instructor in the Geology and Geological Engineering department at South Dakota Mines. She joined the South Dakota Mines faculty in 2022 after completing her master’s in science in Space and Planetary Science at the University of Arkansas. She runs both the Geospatial Technology minors and Geospatial Technology certificate programs and is in charge of ArcGIS Licensing for all South Dakota Universities. She also serves as a board member for the Black Hills Digital Mapping Associations and enjoys assisting other professors in various research projects across campus. She earned her B.S. in Geology from South Dakota Mines in 2019 and specialized in ESRI products, QGIS, and ENVI.
Dr. Maribeth Price holds a PhD in Geosciences from Princeton University and is currently a professor
of geology at the South Dakota Mines. She has been using and teaching GIS for over
20 years, has consulted on GIS in both industry and government, and supervised undergraduate
and graduate research projects involving GIS. She is the author of Mastering ArcGIS and Mastering ArcGIS Pro (McGraw-Hill Higher Education), introductory GIS textbooks used by both college students
and professionals in developing their GIS knowledge and skills, as well as Switching to ArcGIS Pro (Esri Press). She has given more than 100 workshops to over 1200 participants since
2000.
Attendee Comments
- The instructor was very knowledgeable and presented the class clearly
- The workshop helped me with understanding the general concepts
- The class project aspect for each day helped
- The organization was great. The instructor's ability to respond to questions real-time was very useful.
South Dakota Mines GIS Workshops is a proud sponsor of BHDMA
Helpful Resources for Beginners
If you are new to GIS and GIS Data, here are a few articles and GIS Data Sources to get you started with some extra information:
- Learn about Mapping and Geographic Information Systems: a quick beginner's look into GIS (Thank you, Amelia!)
- Joseph Kerski's Top 10 list of data portals (+ a couple honorable mentions)
ArcGIS Online
There is a great deal of data and other content on ArcGIS Online but since anyone can post data without review, some of it is of low quality or is not documented. Some layers that look useful for analysis are imagery layers or tiled layers (image map services) do not have downloadable data and are just pictures. To look for data you can download, try adding the text "type:layer" or "type:raster" to your search text (leave out the quotes). If in Pro, click the Living Atlas button. (ArcGIS Pro has new portal search capability with filters that makes this easier.) If using arcgis.com, click the box for authoritative data and makes sure you toggle the button to look outside of your organization, if you are in one. Make sure to always check your data and make sure it is from authoritative sources and includes documentation, as this will give you the most accurate and the best quality data! For more info, visit ArcGIS Online Help: advanced search.
US Data and Other Reputable Sources
While this is not a complete list of all reputable data sources for the U.S., here are a few sites to take a look at if you are looking for data. There are many other data sources for other countries (and planets!) that you can also find on the web, as well. If you are looking for GIS Data for certain states (or other countries), you can usually find data by going to the states official site and searching for GIS Data or searching the United States Geological Survey (USGS) websites for the individual state.
- Geospatial One-Stop (data.gov)
- The National Map (USGS)
- USDA GIS Data Gateway
- National Weather Service - NWS WCM weather event data: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/
- PRISM Climate Data (grids of climate like annual precip, temp, etc)
- Massive list of government live GIS data services
https://mappingsupport.com/p/surf_gis/list-federal-state-county-city-GIS-servers.pdf - South Dakota Open Data site
- South Dakota Geological Survey GIS databases
- PAD-US (Protected Area Database) is useful for delineating potential ("available") land for site suitability models
If you are a Faculty Member, Staff Member, or Student at South Dakota Mines and would like to access our ESRI License specific data files, contact Victoria Karnes (victoria.karnes@sdsmt.edu) for more information.
- 2023 Alumni Newsletter
- 2022 Alumni Newsletter
- 2021 Alumni Newsletter
- 2020 Alumni Newsletter
- 2019 Alumni Newsletter
- 2018 Alumni Newsletter
- 2017 Alumni Newsletter
- 2016 Alumni Newsletter
- 2015 Alumni Newsletter
- 2014 Alumni Newsletter
- 2013 Alumni Newsletter
- 2012 Alumni Newsletter
- 2011 v2 Alumni Newsletter
- 2011 v1 Alumni Newsletter
- 2010 Alumni Newsletter
- 2009 Alumni Newsletter
- 2007 Alumni Newsletter
- 2006 Alumni Newsletter
- 2005 Alumni Newsletter
- 2004 Alumni Newsletter
Catalog Links
2024-2025 Academic Catalog- Geological Engineering, BS
- Geology, BS
- Geology and Geological Engineering, MS
- Paleontology, MS
- Geology, Geological Engineering, and Mining Engineering: Geological Engineering Specialization, PhD
- Geology, Geological Engineering, and Mining Engineering: Geology Specialization, PhD
- Geology, Geological Engineering, and Mining Engineering: Mining Engineering Specialization, PhD
- Geology Minor
- Geospatial Technology Minor
- Petroleum Systems Minor
- Geospatial Technology- Undergraduate Certificate
- Geospatial Technology- Graduate Certificate
- Petroleum Systems Certificate
Have more questions?
Department of Geology and Geological Engineering
General Information and room scheduling - Cleo Heenan, Department Secretary
(Check Faculty and Staff Page to see all the contacts information)