The goal of geological, environmental and planetary sciences is to study the Earth and other planetary bodies from their cores to the upper reaches of their atmospheres. Our faculty, students, postdocs and researchers carry out geological, biological, chemical, and physical investigations. Below, you can find information on the research being done by our department, organized by various disciplines and approaches:
Biological and Environmental Geoscience: paleoclimate/paleoenvironments, paleobiology/paleontology, taphonomy, geomorphology, hydrology, soil science, low-temperature geochemistry
Faculty: Michael Evans, James Farquhar, Thomas Holtz, Alan Kaufman, Sujay Kaushal, Cédric Magen, John Merck, Karen Prestegaard, Cecilia Sanders, Mengqiang Zhu
Facilities: AIM Lab, Biogeochemistry Laboratory, Laboratory for Hydrologic Studies, Panorama Laboratory, Soil and Environmental Biogeochemistry Group, Stable Isotope Laboratory
Geo- and Cosmo-chemistry: stable and radiogenic isotopes, meteorites, high-temperature geochemistry
Faculty: Ricardo Arévalo, Richard Ash, Michael Evans, James Farquhar, Valerie Finlayson, Alan Kaufman, William McDonough, Sarah Penniston-Dorland, Igor Puchtel, Richard Walker
Facilities: AIM Lab, Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory, M-CLASS Laboratory, Plasma Laboratory, Stable Isotope Laboratory
Geology, Petrology, Volcanology, Tectonics: metamorphic petrology, igneous petrology, volatiles, active tectonics, orogeny, subduction, economic geology, mineralogy
Faculty: Hannes Bernhardt, Michael Brown, Philip Candela, Jaclyn Clark, Mong-Han Huang, Laurent Montési, Megan Newcombe, Sarah Penniston-Dorland, Philip Piccoli, Ann Wylie
Facilities: Active Tectonics Laboratory, Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory, Laboratory for Crustal Petrology, Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, Rock Preparation and Mineral Separation Facilities
Geophysics: seismology, mineral and rock physics, geodynamics, geodesy, structural geology
Faculty: Mong-Han Huang, Daniel Lathrop, Vedran Lekić, Laurent Montési, Nicholas Schmerr, Wenlu Zhu
Facilities: GEODES: Geophysical Exploration of the Dynamics and Evolution of the Solar System, Geodynamics Laboratory, Laboratory for Rock Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics Laboratory, Seismology Laboratory
Planetary Science: planetary geology, planetary interiors, astrobiology
Faculty: Ricardo Arévalo, Hannes Bernhardt, Jaclyn Clark, Vedran Lekić, Laurent Montési, Megan Newcombe, Nicholas Schmerr, Jessica Sunshine
Facilities: GEODES: Geophysical Exploration of the Dynamics and Evolution of the Solar System, M-CLASS Laboratory, Planetary Volcanism Laboratory