Appalachian State University's first geology major graduated in 1949.  Since then, we have awarded more than 200 Bachelor degrees in Geology and Earth Science. 

Approximately 40 percent of our alumni have attended graduate schools and nearly 4 percent of these have earned Ph. D. degrees. Appalachian Geology alumni have attended more than 35 different graduate schools including some of the finest in the United States, such as Duke, Wisconsin, Stanford, Chicago, and MIT.

Another measure of the quality of our graduates is found in the reputation and status of their employers. Current and past employers of Appalachian geologists include Shell, Anadarko Petroleum, BP , Mobil, BHP Minerals, Conoco, Chevron, Penzoil, Exxon Education Foundation, Duke Power, Geological Surveys of Virginia, California, Mississippi, and Alabama, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control, Mine Health and Safety Administration, Virginia Division of Mineral Resources as well as numerous private geological consulting firms.

In addition, we are well represented by our alumni in many public and private schools of North Carolina, New York, and Tennessee. Two of our alumni are geology and geophysics professors in California and Idaho universities and another teaches at Earlham College in Indiana. One alumnus owns a coal mine and the largest insurance agency in a major southern city.

What is it that makes our graduates so successful? Our majors receive excellent preparation through the academic programs, rigorous courses and real world examples we offer. Students learn to think and function as professionals at an early stage in their careers.

We invite all who are willing to share their time and energy with us to major in geology — a career for the 21st century.