Research Themes
SES research spans Earth's systems, from deep-time tectonics to present-day climate, ecosystems, water, and the human communities that depend on them.
Ecology & Conservation
SES faculty lead research programs investigating biodiversity, ecosystem function, the ecological impacts of human activities, and strategies for ecosystem conservation and management.
Environment & Society
Social science and interdisciplinary research on natural resource management and socio-economic policies combining natural and social sciences to improve ecological and social well-being.
Past & Present Climate Change
Understanding climate system changes and interactions between atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, and frozen Earth to improve earth-system models and assess climate impacts.
Sedimentary Geology and Geomorphology
Studying Earth's marine and terrestrial surfaces using field surveys, remote sensing, lab analyses, and numerical modeling in diverse environments including deserts, mountains, rivers, and coastal areas.
Tectonics & Earth's Interior
Study of Earth's internal and surface processes, plate boundaries, crustal processes, and landscape evolution to understand plate boundary processes and tectonic evolution of the American Cordillera.
Water Management Policy & Science
Human impact on Earth's surface processes with research on hydrologic systems in arid/semi-arid Western North America, including springs ecohydrology and environmental flow needs assessment.