Current research activities in our department reflect our interdisciplinary tradition. To advance the fundamental understanding of geological phenomena, we utilize combinations of analytical, experimental, computational, and observational tools. Our investigations build knowledge of geologic materials and processes, elucidate the evolutionary progression of life, interpret records of Earth’s history and climate, characterize its natural resources, and assess the environmental impact of human activities.

These efforts span the enormity of geological time from the Archaean to the Holocene. We explore spatial scales that vary from atomic to global. The geographical realms we investigate range from the tropics to both polar regions, from continents to oceans, from Earth's surface to deep beneath it, and extend to the Moon and to Mars.