Our faculty expertise encompasses such diverse fields as biogeochemistry, climatology, environmental change, geochemistry, geophysics, hydrogeology, hydrology, human health, microbiology, mineralogy, molecular biology, and resource sustainability. Members of this group conduct research that spans spatial scales from the nanometer to the size of continents and oceans. Field sites include the Arctic, Antarctica, the Bahamas, Hawaii, the Great Plains, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, Tanzania, Yellowstone, and all major world oceans. Laboratory instruments include atomic force microscopes, confocal laser scanning microscopes, electron microscopes, mass spectrometers, and x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

In the last five years, over 12 million dollars have been awarded to this research group through grants from NSF, DOE, EPA, and NOAA. Our members publish in journals such as Science, Nature, American Journal of Science, American Mineralogist, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Coral Reefs, Deep Sea Research, Environmental Science & Technology, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Geomicrobiology Journal, Geology, Geophysical Research Letters, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Limnology and Oceanography, Journal of Bacteriology, Organic Geochemistry, and Water Resources Research.

Our program is geared for professional as well as academic programs. Graduates from this research group take various career paths at major research universities, national laboratories, and in the energy and environmental industries

Subspecialties

Biogeochemistry

This field involves scientific study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment (including the biosphere, the hydrosphere, the pedosphere, the atmosphere, and the lithosphere), and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earth's chemical components in time and space.

Earth System Science

Geochemistry

The field of geochemistry involves study of the chemical composition of the Earth and other planets, chemical processes and reactions that govern the composition of rocks and soils, and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earth's chemical components in time and space, and their interaction with the hydrosphere and the atmosphere.

Geomicrobiology

The field of geomicrobiology concerns the role of microbe and microbial processes in geological and geochemical processes. The field is especially important when dealing with microorganisms in aquifers and public drinking water supplies.

Hydrogeology

The part of hydrology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust, (commonly in aquifers).

Hydrology

the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth, and thus addresses both the hydrologic cycle and water resources.

Oceanography

The branch of Earth Sciences that studies the Earth's oceans and seas.

Paleoclimatology

the study of climate change taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. It uses records from ice sheets, tree rings, sediment, and rocks to determine the past state of the climate system on Earth.

Public Health

Public health is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis.