Earth and Environmental Science

  • earth from space

    Earth and Environmental Science

    Our students learn from world-class faculty, recognized through numerous awards, leadership positions and editorial responsibilities.

  • The Water Center

    The Delaware River

    The Water Center is developing a roadmap for policymakers to improve water quality in the 27-mile stretch of the Delaware River from Philadelphia and Camden to Chester. This project is foundational to achieving a primary contact recreational designation, so that communities along this part of the river can more fully enjoy their local natural water resources.

  • Alain F. Plante research

    Soils

    Through local field trips to various sites, students in Prof. Plante’s GEOL411 (Intro to Soil Science) and GEOL611 (Field Study of Soils) courses use exposed soil pits to observe, measure and characterize soil properties in the field to taxonomically classify soils and assess their suitability to various land uses.

  • Reto Giere Research

    Metagabbro from Italy

    This originally intrusive rock from the crust-mantle boundary acquired its current appearance many millions of years later during formation of the Alps.

Studying the past and the present of the Earth, including interactions among the non-living environment, humans and other forms of life, to inform responsible decisions about the future.

Educational Programs

Undergraduate poster session

Undergraduate

Two undergraduate majors in Earth Science and in Environmental Studies equip our students with thorough understanding of nature and environmental issues through classroom education combined with practical learning in the lab and the field.

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MES Program

Professional Masters

Two Professional Masters programs in Environmental Studies and in Applied Geosciences prepare full or part-time students to become experts in managing complex environmental problems.

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Graduate Student

PhD

A PhD program in Earth and Environmental Science enables students to become successful independent researchers in academia or non-academic settings.

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Research

Research done by our faculty, postdoctoral scientists and students focuses on a wide variety of the Earth system’s non-living and living components to increase the understanding of how our planet works and responds to perturbations, such as the global environmental change brought about by human activities.

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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Our guiding principle is to embrace all dimensions of human diversity, both because it is morally just and because fostering diversity, equity and inclusion enhances scientific creativity and is key to achieving an environmentally sustainable future.

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The Water Center

Housed in the Earth and Environmental Science Department, The Water Center combines water science with policy innovation to develop integrated new strategies for solutions to the most challenging urban water problems.

The Water Center homepage can be found here - https://watercenter.sas.upenn.edu/.

Events


Geobiology Symposium

Feb 24, 2023 at

The 30th Mid-Atlantic Geobiology Symposium is tentatively scheduled for the last Friday in February 2023. Further information will become available in December 2022. A short historical account of the Geobiology…

Geobiology Symposium