Earth and Environmental Sciences

Whether you’re ready to pursue a Ph.D. and change the world or are taking your first steps toward learning about the environment, you’ll benefit from the academic expertise, innovative research, and supportive teaching found in the Department of Earth Sciences.

We offer undergraduate and graduate programs suited to a variety of goals, whether you want a career in environmental protection, natural resource management and development, mineral and energy exploration/production, environmental law and policy or (exo)planetary science.

No matter your path, you’ll learn from expert faculty, engage in stimulating research, and graduate ready to take on the world.

Our students are passionate about making a difference. Students who study in the Department of Earth Sciences learn how humans interact with the environmentto better understand the Earth's problems.

Faculty research a wide range of environmental and geologic processes around the world, including most states in the United States, Antarctica, Tibet, Columbia, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Iceland, Greenland, Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa, China, Mongolia, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, the Caribbean, most of the world's oceans, a host of lakes and streams, and planets in our solar system including Mars, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and their moons. We also have a variety of local projects investigating water and soil quality, sediment transport and landforms, climate change over time, and environmental contaminants threatening public health and ecosystems.

Some researchers do their work entirely in the laboratory or by computer while others work to collect field samples that are then processed in our labs. Students at every level are encouraged to get involved with research.