Data Science – Earth Resources
Online at Colorado School of Mines

Program Overview

Digitalization has profoundly affected all facets of geoscience, including extractive industries (e..g, oil and gas, minerals, water resources), remote sensing of Earth change, environmental monitoring and remediation, and geological engineering. More data is available for detailed analysis to improve decision making and influence policy at all levels, and changing commodity prices have added to the need to improve the efficiency of operations in order to drive more effective and responsible development of Earth resources. The Data Science Earth Resources graduate certificate introduces the fundamentals of data science (using Python) as it pertains to characterization, extraction and sustainable development of surface and subsurface Earth resources. This program will allow you to become a more efficient and innovative scientist who can organize, analyze, and visualize earth-resource data as well as automate repetitive tasks, implement machine-learning models and create web-scraping algorithms.

way finder

6% projected job
growth in geosciences
2018-28

salary growth

Ranked #2 Return
on Investment by
Money Magazine, 2019

graduation value

$92,040 median
salary in
geosciences (2019)

Meet the Data Science Faculty

Requirements and Costs

Graduate Certificate

Bachelor’s degree in an earth science-related field (e.g., geology, geophysics, petroleum engineering, chemistry, physics)
No GRE required
No previous coding experience required
Statement of purpose letter: present your professional and personal goals
Resume/CV

Graduate Certificate

12 credit hours of coursework

DSCI403/CSCI303 Introduction to Data Science (3.0)
GEOL557 Earth Resource Data Science I: Fundamentals (3.0)
GEOL558 Earth Resource Data Science II: Applications and Machine Learning (3.0)
Elective: see catalog page (towards bottom of page)

CREDIT HOURS	TUITION 2020-21 Per Semester
1.0	$999
2.0	$1,998
3.0	$2,997
4.0	$3,996
5.0	$4,995
6.0	$5,994
7.0	$6,993
8.0	$7,992
9.0	$8,991
10.0	$9,990
11.0	$10,989
12.0	$11,988
13.0	$12,987
14.0	$13,986
15.0	$14,985
16.0	$15,984
17.0	$16,983
18.0	$17,982
19.0	$18,981

Employer contributions are routinely applied to cover a portion of this cost.
Serious about a Mines program? Let Financial Aid help you consider payment options, identify employer contributions and more. We’re here to help.

FEES

Fees for students enrolled in Mines Online programs or courses are included in the cost of tuition ($999 per credit hour)

More information about tuition and fees.

Career Outcomes

Digital earth-scientist who blends domain knowledge with data science skills
Data scientist in the oil and gas or minerals industries
Data scientist working in environmental remediation, geological engineering, water resources, or sand resources
Earth-resource data analyst
Earth-resource data engineer
Earth-resource machine-learning engineer

Mines Career Services