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Humankind has always been curious about our environment, but there is a new urgency to our department's mission to understand the planet Earth and to convey that understanding to our students. Only a few decades ago, Earth Science was the study of natural phenomena, but now humans are altering the Earth's climate, its landforms, and its biota. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, hurricanes, and other natural hazards have always been with us, but they are more destructive on our increasingly crowded planet. It is an exhilarating time to study the Earth and Environmental Sciences, because of its importance to humanity as well as its intellectual excitement. Evolving technologies let us see the Earth as never before, from satellite observations on the planetary scale to that of particulates a few millionths of a meter in length. All of this is generating new knowledge at an unprecedented rate. Our intellectual tools are also evolving, drawing insights from physics, chemistry, biology, statistics, mathematics, and computer science. Our modes of working range from observational studies much like those of the naturalists and explorers of an earlier era to complex computer modeling and sophisticated laboratory techniques. Our program at Columbia is integrated with the extraordinary research enterprise at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Through this partnership we offer incredible breadth and seek to provide students at all levels with practical experiences. Students are involved in shipboard or field research programs all over the world. A healthy percentage of students also do research at the American Museum of Natural History and at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, both in New York City. Undergraduates should check out the summer intern programs or, if just beginning studies at Columbia, our eological excursion to Death Valley, California (which alternates with trips to Mono Lake, California). Whether your interest is in graduate studies, in a possible undergraduate major or concentration, or in finding out a little more about the Earth and Environmental Sciences, we invite you to take a look at us through these web pages. Prospective students are welcome to visit with a little bit of advance notice. Just contact us a couple of weeks ahead of time (email missy@ldeo.columbia.edu), tell us a little about yourself, and suggest a potential time frame for your visit so we can be sure the most relevant faculty and research staff are available to see you. (This is crucial, since earth scientists travel so much.) We will be happy to provide you with a list of nearby accommodations should you need them, and will do our best to make your visit as fruitful as possible. Finally, after a hiatus year in 2009, everyone is welcome at the Lamont Open House, held annually at the Observatory on the first Saturday in October. Sincerely, |
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Welcome to the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences!