Enthusiastic about science, but don't want to sit in lecture hall all the time?

Searching for a flexible yet practical major that can prepare you for a career in academia, government or industry?

Excited by the prospect of a "hands on" program that encourages undergraduate research in the laboratory and the field?

Curious about "big picture" questions? How does the Earth work? When did life begin? What is the future of our environment?

If you answered "yes" ...

The undergraduate programs in Earth and Environmental Sciences may be what you're looking for.  And the students that you see to the right and below could be you.

Prof. John Tarduno with his California Quest Class, Spring Break 2003. The classroom is not the only learning environment. We bring students to the rocks.

Dan Sinnett ('05), Tom Darrag ('04) and Chris Hayes ('05) using a field magnetometer in the Arctic (Summer 2003). Undergraduate participation in field studies is encouraged.
 

Preparing you for the future ...

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences offers five flexible degree programs to prepare you for a career in academia, government or industry. Our majors have gone on to earn M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from top-rated environmental and geoscience graduate programs, and have also gotten jobs at major research institutions and universities. Others move on to careers in medicine, law or education, or in the environmental and geotechnical industries. Still others work for the USGS, EPA and other government agencies. 

All our programs take you beyond textbooks and lecture halls.   You will gain experience in the application of scientific concepts to the real world through fieldwork, laboratory studies, seminars, independent studies, internships and guided research.   This experience will help you choose a career and make you more employable. 

For the most motivated students, the Department offers rich opportunities for undergraduate research; opportunities that produce students attractive to competitive graduate programs. Our faculty are leaders in exciting projects sponsored by NSF and NASA, using the state-of-the-art resources. Their research spans topics as diverse as the motion of tectonic plates, the evolution of mountain belts, the origin of mantle "plumes", the effect of extraterrestrial impacts, the connections between tectonics and climate change, and the transport of pollutants in the environment. Undergraduates have made important contributions to these studies in the past. Will you be next?

We offer both B.S. and B.A. degrees. The B.S. programs provide a broad but rigorous knowledge of the basic sciences and mathematics, as well as specialized understanding of environmental science and geology. In the B.A. programs, coursework in the natural sciences can be combined with classes in economics, political science or other areas. Both types of programs feature a core curriculum and flexible choices in upper-level electives.

Addresses the physical, chemical, biological and geological processes that affect the environment, including the consequences of human activity, past, present and future.

Concentrates on quantitative study of the geological record using modern tools and techniques to understand the processes that shape the Earth's surface, and to reveal changes in the Earth through time.  Different tracks within the major emphasize coursework in geology, geochemistry or geobiology.
 
 
 

We focus on the application of mechanics to issues in geoscience. Offered jointly with the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Asish Basu
Professor (Ph.D., U. C. Davis, '75) 
Petrology, Solid EarthGeochemistry
abasu@earth.rochester.edu; 275-2413

Cynthia Ebinger
Professor (Ph.D. MIT/Woods Hole, '88)
Regional Tectonics, Applied Geophysics
ebinger@earth.rochester.edu

Carmala Garzione
Assistant Professor (Ph.D., U. Arizona, '00)
Sedimentology, Tectonics
garzione@earth.rochester.edu; 273-4572

Robert Poreda
Professor (Ph.D., U. C. San Diego, '83) 
Environmental and Solid Earth Geochemistry
poreda@earth.rochester.edu; 275-0051

Udo Fehn
Professor (Ph.D., Tech. U. Munich, '73) 
Environmental Geochemistry 
fehn@earth.rochester.edu; 275-7884

Gautam Mitra
Professor (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, '77) 
Structural Geology, Tectonics 
mitr@troi.cc.rochester.edu; 275-5816

John Tarduno
Professor and Chair (Ph.D., Stanford, '87) Geophysics, Tectonics, Paleomagnetics john@earth.rochester.edu; 275-5713