From sustainable energy and climate change, to earthquakes, volcanoes, rivers and glaciers, from the origin of life on Earth to the potential for life on other planets, we lead in educating and inspiring the next generation of scientists.
AboutEducationAlumni & Community
The Department of Earth and Space Sciences offers an expansive educational experience. We provide a rigorous interdisciplinary program in which students develop an understanding of the fundamentals of Earth, space, and planetary sciences, and learn relevant skills for a variety of careers.
The Earth and space sciences — geology, geophysics, geobiology and geochemistry — play a critical and unique role in the advancement of knowledge, improvement of the quality of life, and in understanding humanity’s place in the universe. Research in Earth and space sciences draws on methods and theory from chemistry, physics, biology and computational sciences.
Faculty in our department are concerned both with fundamental research and with the dissemination of Earth-science knowledge in the service of society.
Limited resources, geologic hazards, and related environmental change are among the most serious challenges we face. We use our expertise to provide the training and education required to address these challenges, and we are engaged in serious efforts to include a more diverse community of scientists, students and stakeholders than in the past.
On Monday, large parts of the United States will experience a total solar eclipse. This eclipse is expected to be a more significant event than the one in 2017, and the next one visible from the U.S.
Read moreESS Processor and Chair Eric Steig, a University of Washington glaciologist and geochemist, recently was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, an honor given to 188 “culture creators” working across 52 disciplines.
Read moreOut of 16,400 university programs at 1,500 institutions in 96 locations around the world, UW has five subjects in the top 10 in 2024, including Geology (No. 8), Earth & Marine Sciences (No.
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