This document contains a variety of questions related to geology, environmental science, natural hazards, and sustainability. It asks about the role of plate tectonics in local environments, ways rocks can impact or benefit the environment, assessing earthquake and flooding risks, and developing education programs around volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. References for a job application are also discussed.

1. 1. Do you think the Earth is a living organism? Why or why
not?
2. Why are people in Haiti so vulnerable to major natural
hazards?
3. Why did you take this environmental geology course?
4. Would an exponential negative growth of human population
be a solution to many environmental problems?
5. Are there any conflicts between global environmental unity
principle and regional economic development?
6. a. Look around your house or apartment and make a list of
five different materials that relate to geology. For example, do
you have a granite countertop? Slate floor or pool table? Salt in
your kitchen? Drywall (made from gypsum)? Metal Objects?
Plastic items (made from petroleum)?
b. Indicate those items that can be recycled.
c. If you currently do not recycle, describe what would cause
you
7. Assume the Pangaea never broke up, how might today’s
environments be different?
8. What are the major differences in plate tectonic settings
between the U.S. eastern and western coasts?
9. Will the tectonic cycle ever stop? Why or why not?
10. Why is most seismic and volcanic energy released along the

2. Pacific rim?
11. Does plate tectonics play a role in shaping your local
environment?
12. Extremophile bacteria can live and thrive under extreme
conditions. Why are they important to the search for
extraterrestrial life?
13. Discuss different ways that rocks and minerals are used to
benefit or to harm the environment
14. What rock property and rock structure factors should you
consider for a major engineering site selection?
15. Suppose you are the superintendent of schools, what steps
would you take to determine if there was an asbestos hazard,
and how would you communicate with parents?
16. What factors contributed to the failure of the St. Francis
Dam?
17. A town is located in the foothills of a mountain range. The
rock types in the city limits and just beyond include basalt,
shale, and limestone. As the town grows and expands, what
advice could you give planners as to potential geologic
problems related to the rocks to be aware of as new buildings
and roads are sited? What additional geologic information
would be necessary?
18. The rock cycle indicates how rocks can be transformed from
one type to another. In other words, older rocks are recycled
into new rocks. How can an older sedimentary rock be
transformed into a new sedimentary rock without first becoming
a metamorphic rock?

3. 19. An ecosystem consists of both living community and its
nonliving environment. Is one of two components more
important?
20. Based upon the linkage between ecology and geology, what
is the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations in
ecological restoration?
21. What are the critical ecological challenges in your area?
22. Are there any positive impacts of land transfor mation on
your local ecosystems?
23. How do seawalls reduce biodiversity?
24. What did you learn from the case history of wolves in
Yellowstone National Park?
25. List all the natural hazardous processes in the area where
you live. What is done? What is more to be done?
26. Construct a U.S. vulnerability map of natural hazards by
state. (Hint: create a legend with different colors representing
different hazards, and then color in the state with the most
common hazard it experiences. You’ll probably have to do some
internet research to find the data for this one.)
27. What is the difference between forecasting and warning?
28. Can humans eventually control the impact risks of natural
hazards? Explain your rationale.

4. 29. Develop a plan for your community to evaluate the risk of
flooding. How would you go about determining an acceptable
risk?
30. Do you agree or disagree that land use change in population
increase are increasing the risk from natural processes? Develop
a hypothesis and discuss how it might be tested.
31. What is the main lesson from the recent earthquakes in Italy
and Haiti? How important is the wealth of a country to reducing
the earthquake hazard?
32. From your point of view, what can an individual citizen do
to minimize the earthquake impact risks?
33. What would be your approach to present info on earthquake
hazard to people who knew very little about earthquake?
34. Propose geologic scenarios that may change the global
earthquake distribution patterns.
35. You live in an area that has a significant earthquake hazard.
There is ongoing debate as to whether an earthquake warning
system should be developed. Some people are worried that false
alarms will cause a lot of problems, and others point out that
the response time may not be very long.
a. What are your views? Do you think it is a responsibility of
public officials to finance an earthquake warning system,
assuming such systems are feasible?
b. What are potential implications if a warning system is not
developed, and a large earthquake results in damage that could
have been partially avoided with a warning system in place?
36. Look up your birthday in “Today in Earthquake History”

5. (https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/) and see what you
find! Investigate the tectonic setting of any significant
earthquake listed.
37. What is the role of human population increase in impacting
the Indonesian tsunami of 2004?
38. Why do you think that prior to the 2004 Indonesian tsunami
there was no warning system in the Indian Ocean? Was this a
function of science or values?
39. What is the probability of your community being impacted
by tsunami?
40. Do you think that there is any strong link between
sustainability and a tsunami?
41. Why might it be difficult for people who live far from a
serious earthquake hazard to appreciate and prepare for tsunami
damage?
42. You are charged with developing an education program with
the objective of raising a community’s understanding of
tsunami. What sort of program would you develop, and what
would it be based upon?
43. What are the possible reasons why people live near a
volcano?
44. Is your area vulnerable to the impact risks of volcanic
activities?
45. How do political and economic factors influence people’s
attitude toward the volcanic hazard?
46. How to develop a public relations program that could alert

6. people to a potential volcanic hazard?
47. While looking through some old boxes in your grandparents’
home, you find a sample of volcanic rock collected by your
great-grandfather. No one knows where it was collected. You
take it to school, and your geology professor says it is a sample
of andesite.
a. What might you tell your grandparents about the type of
volcano from which it probably came?
b. What is the geologic environment the rock came from?
c. What type of volcanic activity produced it?
48. With respect to lava flow hazards, why are basaltic magmas
able to threaten developed areas much farther away from a
volcano compared to andesitic magmas?
49. As a planner, outline a plan of action working for a
community that is expanding into the headwater portions of
drainage basins.
50. Does the community you live in have a flood hazard? If not,
why not? If there is a hazard, what has been done and/or is
being done to reduce or eliminate the hazard? What more could
be done?
51. What are the largest floods to have ever occurred in your
area?
52. With the global warming, what do you think the frequency
and magnitude of flooding would change?
53. Differentiate between competency and capacity. Does a

7. stream’s competency and capacity change over time?
54. Humans construct artificial levees to reduce flooding. How
then can these levees increase the frequency and severity of
flooding?
55. Discuss the reasons why our society could not prevent slope
development.
56. Assume you have been hired by a community to make the
citizens more aware of the landslide hazard in very steep
topographic area. Outline a plan of action and defend it.
57. Compare and contrast landslide hazards and impact risks in
the east coast versus west coast, tropical versus polar regions.
58. Increased water content is one of the more common mass
wasting/landslide triggers. Why does the actual landslide event
sometimes take place as much as a month or more after a period
of heavy rain?
59. a. Why is wet beach sand able to form steeper slopes than
dry sand?
b. How is this consistent with the fact that excess water can
cause a slope to become unstable?
60. What is the role of ground water in the formation of sink
holes?
During your job search, a prospective employer may request a
list of references prior to or during an interview. This request
may take the form of a response to a written job application, a
question on a company application or as an addendum to your

8. resume. Your reference sheet should list the names, addresses
and relation to you for each reference.
As a courtesy, you should get in touch with the people you wish
to include on your reference list and ask permission to use their
names. This contact will allow them to prepare adequate
answers to questions about you so they will not be caught by
surprise when prospective employers call or write. Also, those
contacted can decline you permission, if they wish. You may
find it worthwhile to reintroduce yourself to the people on your
list, particularly if you have not spoken to them for a while. The
suggestions below will be helpful if you need to write a letter to
contact your references.
What do you include?
· Reintroduce yourself. Be sure that your reference remembers
the situations the two of you were involved in.
· If you have not spoken to your reference in awhile, it is
extremely important to provide a summary of your most recent
qualifications and experience.
· Be sure to let the reference know where you are in your
studies. List your year in school, your field of study and
possibly your career aspirations.
· Formally ask to use the person as a reference and state how
the reference will be used.
· Be sure that the reference understands that if you do not hear
from them you will assume they do not mind being used as a
reference.
· Include a copy of your resume.