The field of Earth and Planetary Science offers a rich variety of research targets and educational opportunities for students. The research carried out in the department, and the courses offered, treat topics encompassing the structure and composition of the earth's solid and fluid cores, the constitution of the earth's crust, the workings of the earth's oceans and atmosphere, and the evolution of the earth and other planets over billions of years. Researchers and students in this field are driven by fundamental curiosity about the past and present states of the earth and planets, seek to understand the origin of earthquakes and mineral resources, the workings of volcanoes, changes in the earth's climate and environment, and the impacts of global changes on society. The tools of Earth and Planetary Science are basic concepts of physics, chemistry, biology, applied mathematics and statistics, and advanced instruments that can be used to characterize geologic processes and materials. These instruments include remotely operated probes of the oceans and atmosphere, spacecraft, seismometers, GPS stations, mass spectrometers, synchrotrons, electron microscopes, and even the traditional hand lens, compass, pick and hammer.

Work in Earth and Planetary Science attracts theoreticians eager to apply their conceptual knowledge to "real life" problems, as well as enthusiasts of field work in remote areas of the globe, talented physical, chemical or biological sensor developers, and wizards of computer modeling.

The Department of Earth and Planetary Science has a long tradition of posing and answering intellectually fascinating questions about the Earth-asking whether the continents stay fixed or move around, what the history of life has been and why, how the landscape we know has come to be, and why there are earthquakes and volcanoes. Berkeley's Department of Earth and Planetary Science was the first major center of academic geology in the western United States and has been involved in many of these scientific developments. Berkeley geologists made the first detailed study of a major earthquake, developed potassium-argon dating — the most important method for finding the ages of rocks, brought the rigor of thermodynamics into geology, and discovered the evidence that a comet impact killed the dinosaurs.

As concern has grown in recent years over environmental deterioration and depletion of resources, our focus has broadened to include matters of urgent social relevance. Many departments at Berkeley are concerned with environmental questions, focusing on policy, management, economics, engineering, and social concerns, but all depend for the validity of their conclusions upon a correct scientific understanding of Planet Earth. It is up to geologists, geochemists, and geophysicists to provide that understanding, and at Berkeley these practical concerns now stand alongside the more academic questions in a double focus of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science.

The interests of the faculty cover a broad range of earth sciences. The traditional fields of petrology, mineralogy, mineral resources and structural geology are represented. Solid earth geophysics includes a unique combination of expertise in seismology, mineral physics and geodynamics. Our earthquake and tectonics program benefits from the resources made available through the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory. A vigorous program in geomorphology and surface processes attracts many students.

Recently we have added a marine geophysics program, an atmospheric science program and most recently a planetary science program, with links to programs in the Departments of Chemistry, Astronomy, Geography and Environmental Science and Policy Management. Additional resources for research are available through the Center for Atmospheric Science and the Center for Integrated Planetary Science. We are making progress in bringing geology and geophysics closer by making the former program more quantitative and the latter more based in geological observations. Resources for Geochemists include the Center for Isotope Geochemistry and the Berkeley Geochronology Center. Some of our faculty have strong collaborations with the Earth Science Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The Department of Earth and Planetary Science offers an undergraduate major leading to a BA degree in Earth and Planetary Science with five tracks: geology, geophysics, environmental science, atmospheric science, and marine science. In addition, undergraduates have the option of pursuing a minor in any of these five categories. The BA degree provides coherent programs for quantitative studies of the Earth and preparation for Graduate School as well as for an active role in environmental decision making, teaching at high schools and job opportunities that require a basic understanding of natural sciences. For example, the Geology track satisfies the minimum requirements for registration as a geologist in the State of California. The curriculum has a rigorous core of quantitative sciences with mathematics, physics and chemistry, followed by an upper division sequence of courses specific to each track. There is room for specialization in electives. Upper division courses also serve many non-majors to satisfy the physical sciences requirement.

The Department of Earth and Planetary Science offers a Ph.D. program as well as a Master of Arts and a Master of Science option, with the possibility of specializing in any of the areas of expertise of our faculty. The department offers the graduate student the opportunity to develop skills in theoretical and experimental analysis, and to blend these skills with careful description in the field and in the laboratory. The central objective of the graduate program is to encourage creative thinking and to develop the capacity for independent and original research.

Rudy Wenk ,
Professor of Geology, Chair, Department of Earth & Planetary Science