Master in Energy Geoscience

"Students in the Professional Master’s Program benefit from Rice’s highly recognized academic resources enhanced with professional components that together foster the development of essential science, communication, and management skills. The Energy Geoscience program creates a rare breed of well-prepared professionals possessing the wide range of abilities necessary to devise innovative and pragmatic approaches to tackle difficult industry problems. "Students in the Professional Master’s Program benefit from Rice’s highly recognized academic resources enhanced with professional components that together foster the development of essential science, communication, and management skills. The Energy Geoscience program creates a rare breed of well-prepared professionals possessing the wide range of abilities necessary to devise innovative and pragmatic approaches to tackle difficult industry problems."

– André Erlich, Chief Information Officer, Schlumberger Ltd. (retired)

The Energy Geoscience (formerly Subsurface Geoscience) program is geared for students who have a geoscience background and would like to become proficient in their area of interest. Students can choose from four focus areas that will prepare them to apply geological knowledge and geophysical methods to find and develop reserves of oil and natural gas; or to hone their skills in manipulating and managing energy-related data, or refit or expand their skill-set to the new areas of the on-going energy transition.

The core requirements for the degree are strong technical courses, management and policy courses, with communication skills training, and include an industrial internship or work experience. Students select a group of elective courses from a focus area (see below), or from a variety of other courses related to their interest.

• The Energy Data Management focus area prepares students to understand exploration and production as a data-driven business, to become data enabled geoscientists to match demands in the energy industry.
• The Geology focus area prepares students with strong skills in using seismic and other geophysical methods along with geological principles to find oil and natural gas, including topics addressing the ongoing energy industry transition
• The Geophysics focus area prepares students to become technical experts in aspects of seismology, including topics addressing the ongoing energy industry transition.
• The Energy Transition and Sustainability focus area (available in Fall 2022) will address geoscience methods that are going to be needed in a successful energy transition, such as geo-thermal, carbon sequestration and storage, minerals, etc

Internship:

A three- to six-month internship under the guidance of a hosting 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.

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.

Courses in the Departments of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Statistics, Biosciences, Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, Computational and Applied Mathematics, and Economics as well as in the Jones School of Management have been incorporated into the curriculum. Students will enroll in two courses team-taught by industry leaders.

The Subsurface Geoscience degree requires a total of 40 credit hours, not including the internship:

Science Core Courses - 22 hours

Cohort Courses - 9 hours

Elective Courses - 9 hours

TOTAL - 40 hours

Recommended Background

Applicants for the Professional Master's in Subsurface Geoscience must have:

• B.A. or B.S. degree in a related science or engineering program that included coursework in general physics, chemistry, calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations.
• Completed coursework in geology and/or geophysics is preferred.
• Scores from the general Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
• Completed coursework in computer skills and some programming is preferred.

In addition to the required science coursework, students have to complete enrichment courses such as:

Required Cohort courses (9 hrs):

• NSCI 501 Professional Master’s Seminar (F, S) [required for two semesters]
• NSCI 511 Science Policy & Ethics (S)
• NSCI 512 Professional Master's Project (F, S)
• NSCI 610 Management in Science and Engineering (F, S)

and complete an internship or practical work experience.