Earth and Ocean Sciences at UBC's Vancouver campus | UBC Undergraduate Programs and Admissions

Learn more about how the earth works, from the core to the atmosphere, and from the distant genesis of our planet to current and future trends in environmental and global issues. Earth and Ocean Sciences spans virtually all aspects of understanding the history and dynamics of our planet, as well as how to best manage its resources and the environment we live in.

Why this program?

Tailor your program with courses in geology, geophysics, oceanography, atmospheric sciences, and computer applications.
Choose courses that provide a broader overview to prepare for study in the earth sciences, medicine, law, journalism, or beyond.
Study at one of the world’s top-ranked universities in environmental sciences.

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Program information

Campus: Vancouver
Faculty: Faculty of Science
Degree: Bachelor of Science

Length 4 yrs
Co-op Yes
You can combine your studies with full-time, paid work at top local and international organizations.
Honours Yes
You can study intense specialization in a single field.

Earth and Ocean Sciences offers you the opportunity to combine your interests in physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, computer applications, and the environment. You will study the atmosphere and the solid and liquid earth, using knowledge of the past and present to predict the future of our global system.

Specific areas of focus include: Mineral and Fuel Deposits, Crustal and Mantle Processes, Sedimentary Geology and Geobiology, Environmental Geology, Understanding Earth’s Physics, Climate, and Palaeontology.

Campus features

The Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences is home to the Pacific Museum of the Earth and the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU). The MDRU is part of an integrated geological and geophysical research program at UBC that helps train students for employment in the mineral exploration industry.

The department is also home to 10 research facilities, including the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research (PCIGR) and the Centre for Experimental Study of the Lithosphere (CESL). The new EOS Learning Centre is an open space for students in the department to work and study together.

EOSC 116 - Mesozoic Earth: Time of the Dinosaurs
Earth's tectonics, climate, and oceans during the time of the dinosaurs. Reading the fossil record of Earth from its earliest origins up to and including the Mesozoic, 250 - 65 million years ago.
CHEM 121 - Structure and Bonding in Chemistry
Fundamentals of bonding theories and structural chemistry, with applications relevant to modern society.
EOSC 112 - The Fluid Earth: Atmosphere and Ocean
Introduction to processes in ocean and atmosphere. Heat, current, winds, clouds, marine life, resources. Effects of coupling, climate change, pollution. (Consult the Credit Exclusion list, within the Faculty of Science section in the Calendar.)
PHYS 101 - Energy and Waves
Fluids, harmonic oscillator, travelling waves, standing waves, sound, and interference of light waves, including diffraction.
EOSC 110 - The Solid Earth: A Dynamic Planet
Earth's origin, composition, structure, and natural resources. Plate tectonics as the driving force for volcanism, mountain building, and earthquakes. Imaging Earth's interior. Environmental geoscience and sustainability. (Consult the Credit Exclusion list for the Faculty of Science section of the Calendar.)

EOSC 212 - Topics in the Earth and Planetary Sciences
Cutting edge problems in earth, ocean, atmospheric and planetary sciences. Topics will be introduced through discussions of the current literature.
EOSC 213 - Computational Methods in Geological Engineering
Combining basic physical principles with their mathematical description and generating computational models that describe them. Introduction to basic building blocks in modeling, simulation and parameter estimation.
EOSC 220 - Introductory Mineralogy
Introduction to crystallography, physical and chemical properties of minerals. Recognition and identification of common minerals.
EOSC 250 - Fields and Fluxes
Application of classical theory of scalar and vector fields to geophysical sciences. Conductive, convective and radiative energy flux, gravitation, electrostatics, and magnetostatics. Gauss' and Stokes' theorems.
EOSC 270 - Marine Ecosystems
Introduction to diversity of marine habitats and ecosystems; hydrothermal vent, intertidal, coral reef, estuarine, deep sea, and polar ecosystems; impacts of ecosystem change; evolution of ocean plankton; invasive species; climate change; pollution.

EOSC 340 - Global Climate Change
Mechanisms and processes of past and future global environmental and climate change.
EOSC 311 - The Earth and its Resources
An introduction to the Earth with emphasis on its industrial and aesthetic resources. Rocks, minerals, gold, diamonds, sediments, fossils, oil and gas, canyons, and volcanoes and the processes that create them. Not for credit in the Faculties of Science and Applied Science. No background in Science or Mathematics is required.
EOSC 314 - The Ocean Environment
An introduction to the oceans and the processes that have shaped them, their composition and movement, waves, tides, beaches, interactions with the atmosphere and human exploitation of the non-living resources. Not for credit in the Faculties of Science or Applied Science. No background in Science or Mathematics is required.
EOSC 326 - Earth and Life Through Time
The fossil record of adaptation and extinction emphasizing the interaction of biological and geological processes. Not for credit in any Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences specialization.
EOSC 328 - Field Geology
Recording and processing geological data in the field. Held within the three weeks following April examinations after third year. A special fee is to be paid by January 31.

EOSC 420 - Volcanology
Field and lab-based studies in volcanology concentrating on physical and chemical aspects of volcanic processes.
EOSC 425 - Paleontology
Paleobiogeography in the context of plate tectonics. Mass extinction events. Fossilization and biases in the fossil record. Species concepts in paleontology. Biostratigraphy. Paleontological evidence for early life; the colonization of oceanic and terrestrial environments and; the evolution of the primates.
EOSC 431 - Groundwater Remediation
Methods for containment and remediation of subsurface contaminants; including groundwater control, groundwater extraction, and in situ treatment. Experience with common design approaches.
EOSC 433 - Geological Engineering Practice I - Rock Engineering
Application of rock mechanics, hydrogeology, and engineering design tools in realistically complex geological environments. Influence and treatment of geological uncertainty, and use of field data, geotechnical monitoring, and numerical analyses for tunnelling, mining and rock slope engineering projects. Case histories.
EOSC 454 - Applied Geophysics
Using geophysics to characterize the Earth's subsurface for resource exploration, engineering, or environmental applications. Data acquisition, processing, and interpretation of geophysical surveys. Inversion examples drawn from potential (electrical, magnetic, gravity) or wave field (seismic, ground penetrating radar) surveys.

Life at UBC's Vancouver campus

Built in 2012 to LEED Gold construction standards, the Earth Sciences building is home to the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. It houses the department’s cluster computers for numerical weather and climate simulations, weather-instrument platform for research and teaching, modern labs for oceanographic research, wet labs, and two computer lab classrooms for undergraduate student use.

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Your future

A BSc in Earth and Ocean Sciences qualifies you for employment in various earth sciences disciplines. Students with the appropriate course background are able to register as a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) with the Association of Professional Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC).

The Earth and Ocean Sciences specialization can also be tailored to prepare you for entry into graduate programs in a variety of earth sciences disciplines, as well as for medical, law, or journalism school.

Program graduates

Environmental hydrogeologist, Hemmera
Geologist, Alamos Gold Inc.
PhD student in Mining Engineering, University of Quebec
Research assistant, Mineral Deposit Research Unit
Mining and metals professional, Golden Predator Corp.

Program requirements

Canadian high schools
International high schools
International baccalaureate

English-language requirements

English is the language of instruction at UBC. All prospective students must demonstrate English-language competency prior to admission. There are numerous ways to meet the English Language Admission Standard.

General admission requirements

IB Diploma Programme

Completed IB Diploma, including at least three Higher Level courses.

IB Certificate Courses

IB Certificate courses (Standard and Higher Level) may be used in an admissions average if you are graduating from a recognized high school curriculum that can be used as your basis of admission.
IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, do not satisfy the math requirement for admission to UBC’s science-based programs, the Faculty of Management, the UBC Sauder School of Business, or the Vancouver School of Economics.

Degree-specific requirements: Science

IB Math Analysis and Approaches SL or HL, or IB Math Applications and Interpretations HL (IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, are not acceptable)
One of IB Biology, IB Chemistry, or IB Physics
Grade 11 or equivalent Chemistry, and
Grade 11 or equivalent Physics (may be waived with grades of 5 in IB Chemistry and in your IB Mathematics course)

Note: Grade 11 Chemistry and Physics requirements listed are only relevant to students who are not completing the equivalent IB Diploma Chemistry and/or Physics courses.

For students studying outside of Canada, some examples of courses that may be accepted as Grade 11 equivalents are junior-level courses for American students, and IGCSE and O Level for those following British-patterned curricula.

Related courses

The following subject categories are particularly relevant for this degree. Consider taking courses in these areas in your junior year and senior year.

Language Arts
Mathematics and Computation
Sciences