Westminster's Paleontology Program

Why Study Paleontology at Westminster?

Paleontology focuses on understanding the history of life and includes principles from geology, biology, astronomy, chemistry and physics. If you're interested in searching out the Earth's and history's secrets through scientific discovery, paleontology combines several disciplines and brings life to the ancient past.

This interdisciplinary academic minor focuses on the historical study of biological diversity. By drawing together courses from both biology and earth systems science, the paleontology minor is an excellent option either for students specifically interested in life of the past, or for students interested in how different branches of science approach the same complex problems. The curriculum prepares students for future work in paleontology, historical geology, or organismal biology, as well as providing a broad background in the natural sciences in general.

The Westminster Difference:

• Westminster is the only college in the Intermountain West to offer a paleontology program.
  
• Utah’s historic fossil record is one of the most complete in the nation.
• Rocks exposed in Utah span a 543 million year history of animal life on earth, and most of the fossil sites are less than an hour from Westminster's campus.
• Utah has been a tropical beach, a coal swamp, an inland desert, and even a freshwater lake – making it one of the best places to study the history of life.