Energy Geoscience Curriculum

Courses offered by the Departments of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Computer Science, Computational and Applied Mathematics, and Economics as well as management and business courses from the Jones School of Business have been incorporated into the curriculum. Students will enroll in courses team-taught by industry leaders.

The Energy Geoscience degree requires a total of 39-40 credit hours and an internship.

The Master of Science in Energy Geoscience degree offers several areas of specialization: Geology, Geophysics, Energy Data Management - with a new specialization offered in Fall 2022:

Energy Transition and Sustainability

Core Requirements for all areas of specialization

Core Science Courses: (12-13 credit hours)

EEPS 583 ENERGY DATA MANAGEMENT AND DATA GOVERNANCE

EEPS 548 3D SEISMIC REFLECTION DATA INTERPRETATION

EEPS 659 WELL LOGGING AND PETROPHYSICS

EEPS 579 HYDROCARBON SYSTEMS ANALYSIS (updated course: Subsurface Energy System Analysis and Sustainability)

Cohort Courses (9 credit hours)

NSCI 501 PROFESSIONAL MASTER'S SEMINAR (2 semesters required)

NSCI 511 SCIENCE POLICY, AND ETHICS

NSCI 512 PROFESSIONAL MASTER'S PROJECT

NSCI 610/ENGI 610 MANAGEMENT FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Three to Six Month Internship
A three- to six-month internship under the guidance of a host company, government agency, or national laboratory is required. At the conclusion of this internship, students must present their internship project in both oral and written forms as part of the Professional Master’s Project.

Area of Specialization: Student must select 1 of the following Areas of Specialization:

Energy Data Management

Energy Transition and Sustainability

Geology

Geophysics

In addition to the above requirements, please note additional requirements for the various focus areas:

ENERGY DATA MANAGEMENT FOCUS AREA:

Core Requirements (9 credit hours)

EEPS 585 COMPUTATIONAL AND DATA SCIENCE IN THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

EEPS 586 TOOLS, METHODS & BEST PRACTICES FOR DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYTICS

OR COMP 533 INTRODUCTION TO DATABASE SYSTEMS

EEPS 584 DATA SCIENCE for ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOSCIENCES APPLICATIONS

Elective Requirements: Student must select 9 credit hours according to their interest:

Either from EEPS courses such as:

EEPS 636 GIS FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

EEPS 634 CLIMATE OF THE COMMON ERA

or other courses according to interest - see other elective areas

and/or

CEVE 528/ENGI 528 ENGINEERING ECONOMICS

CHBE 548 ENERGY SYSTEMS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

COMP 543 GRADUATE TOOLS AND MODELS FOR DATA SCIENCE

COMP 556/ELEC 556 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER NETWORKS

DSCI 535 DATA SCIENCE PROJECTS

ECON 601 ENERGY ECONOMICS I

MGMT 610 FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

MGMT 611 GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY

MGMT 661 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LAW

MGMT 670 OPERATIONS STRATEGY

MGMT 676 SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

NSCI 515 FUNDAMENTALS OF PROJECT AND PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

STAT 518 PROBABILITY

or others ....

ENERGY TRANSITION AND SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS AREA

Core Requirements (7 credit hours)

  • EEPS 592 ENERGY TRANSITION OVERVIEW (1 credit hr) – FALL ‘22

Description: A new seminar course covering current issues related to the energy transition. Faculty and industry experts will speak about energy storage, carbon capture, geo-thermal, water resources, critical minerals, climate change, energy systems, sustainability impacts, and other relevant topics.

  • EEPS 325/525 THE SCIENCE AND SOLUTIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE* (Spring)

Description: A new course that introduces the fundamentals of natural and anthropogenic climate change, covering the basic physics of the climate system, providing tools to understand weather and climate phenomena, the greenhouse effect, and climate feedbacks. With this context, discussion will focus on the costs of climate change, and examine solutions to the current climate crisis. (with no lab)

  • EEPS 5XX GEOSCIENCE FOR THE ENERGY TRANSITION*

Description: A new course that reviews essential topics in subsurface geoscience and techniques, with applications to energy systems such as subsurface carbon storage, energy storage (e.g., hydrogen, heat or compressed air), critical metal resources, geothermal energy, and natural gas. Topics include geophysical methods, structural (including fracture) analysis, sedimentology, rock properties and geomechanics, subsurface fluid flow and geochemistry, and regional geology.

Elective Requirements: Student must select 10 credit hours from the following:

EEPS 615 GEOCHEM EARTH’S SURFACE

EEPS 530 SILICICLASTIC DEPOSITIONAL SYSTEMS

EEPS 584 DATA SCIENCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOSCIENCES APPLICATIONS

EEPS 585 COMPUTATIONAL AND DATA SCIENCE IN THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

EEPS 586 TOOLS, METHODS & BEST PRACTICES FOR DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYTICS

EEPS 6XX EARTH RESOURCES IN A CHANGING WORLD

EEPS 636 GIS FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

EEPS 648 EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS

EEPS 654 2D SEISMIC STRUCT AND STRAT

EEPS 658 APPLIED ROCK PHYSICS

EEPS 667 GEOMECHANICS & GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS

EEPS 671 EARTH SYSTEMS MODELING

EEPS 672 NUMERICAL METHODS EARTH SYSTEM

CHBE 548 ENERGY SYSTEMS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

MGMT 758 ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE ISSUES IN STRATEGY

CEVE 507 ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

BIOS 580 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT & REPORTING

CHBE 6xx CARBON CAPTURE, UTILIZATION, AND STORAGE*

GEOLOGY FOCUS AREA

Core Requirements (6 credit hours)

EEPS 654 INTRODUCTION TO SEISMIC INTERPRETATION: STRUCTURAL STYLES AND SEISMIC STRATIGRAPHY

or EEPS 661 STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF TECTONIC SYSTEMS

EEPS 630 SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

or EEPS 530 SILICICLASTIC DEPOSITIONAL SYSTEMS

Elective Requirements: Student must select 12 credit hours from the following:

CHBE 548 ENERGY SYTEMS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

EEPS 525 APPLIED SEDIMENTOLOGY II

EEPS 580 SEMINAR: QUANTITATIVE PETROLEUM SYSTEMS ANALYSIS 2

EEPS 578 HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION

EEPS 592 SPECIAL TOPICS IN EARTH SCIENCE

EEPS 615 GEOCHEMISTRY OF EARTH SURFACE

EEPS 630 SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

EEPS 633 CLIMATE DYNAMICS

EEPS 634 CLIMATE OF THE COMMON ERA

EEPS 648 EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS

EEPS 636 GIS FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

EEPS 545 SEISMOLOGY I

EEPS 662 TECTONOPHYSICS

EEPS 661 STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF TECTONIC SYSTEMS

EEPS 660 GLOBAL TECTONICS

EEPS 658 ENVIRONMENTAL & APPLIED ROCK PHYSICS

EEPS 667 GEOMECHANICS

EEPS 671 EARTH SYSTEMS MODELING: NUMERICAL TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS

MGMT 610 FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

NSCI 515 FOUNDATIONS OF PROJECT AND PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

*Substitutions for required or elective courses may be approved by the Track Advisor.

GEOPHYSICS FOCUS AREA

Core Requirements: (6 credit hours)

EEPS 650 GEOPHYSICAL DATA ANALYSIS: Digital Signal Processing

EEPS 651 GEOPHYSICAL DATA ANALYSIS: Inverse Methods

Elective Requirements: Student must select 12 credit hours from the following:

CHBE 548 ENERGY SYSTEMS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

EEPS 578 HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION

EEPS 592 SPECIAL TOPICS IN EARTH SCIENCE

EEPS 615 GEOCHEMISTRY OF EARTH SURFACE

EEPS 630 SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

EEPS 633 CLIMATE DYNAMICS

EEPS 634 CLIMATE OF THE COMMON ERA

EEPS 648 EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS

EEPS 636 GIS FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

EEPS 545 SEISMOLOGY I

EEPS 662 TECTONOPHYSICS

EEPS 661 STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF TECTONIC SYSTEMS

EEPS 660 GLOBAL TECTONICS

EEPS 658 ENVIRONMENTAL AND APPLIED ROCK PHYSICS

EEPS 667 GEOMECHANICS

EEPS 671 EARTH SYSTEMS MODELING: NUMERICAL TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS

MGMT 610 FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

NSCI 515 FOUNDATIONS OF PROJECT AND PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

*Substitutions for required or elective courses may be approved by the Track Advisor.

..AND OTHERS ...

*Pre- or Co-requisite Requirement: EEPS 648 EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS - to be discussed with faculty advisor

EEPS 548 requires a prerequisite of EEPS 448 (previously ESCI 442) or EEPS 648 (previously ESCI 642) that may be taken concurrently. See a faculty advisor for more information.

** EEPS 585 COMPUTATIONAL AND DATA SCIENCE IN THE ENERGY INDUSTRY preparation: Students should have :

* Basic knowledge in flow in porous media

* Basic principles in geology/geophysics

* Understanding of basic statistics/data science and strong analytical skills

* Introduction to Programming; hands-on experience in one programming language (Python, Matlab, C,...)

NOTE: Substitutions for required or elective courses may be approved by the Faculty Advisor. Not all courses are offered every year.

The General Announcements (GA) is the official Rice curriculum. In the event that there is a discrepancy between the GA and any other websites or publications, the GA shall prevail as the authoritative source.

Visit the GA for Energy Geoscience curriculum here