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Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences

Our Programs and Curriculum

 
Undergraduate field trip

Undergraduate Major & Minor

The academic program covers traditional topics and the latest advances in earth science. Courses may include theory, descriptive studies, data analysis, computer modeling, laboratory exercises, and field training. The minor offers students in any major outside the department a flexible path to improved knowledge of earth and planetary sciences.

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Graduate student in a lab

PhD Graduate Program

Now Accepting Applications Fall 2025

We welcome students with backgrounds that span the range of STEM disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, computer science, and mathematics, in addition to those whose undergraduate preparation was in geology or earth sciences. The department is recognized for a supportive and collaborative atmosphere where research and teaching are pursued at the forefront of earth and planetary sciences.

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Our Research and Facilities

 

Research Areas

Externally funded projects within the department span a wide range of research areas. Many of these projects are collaborative both within and outside the department, with notable ties to Argonne National Labs, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), the Field Museum, and the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
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Research Facilities

Northwestern University invested significant resources in the renovation of a lab facility for the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.  The result, the Integrated Laboratories for Earth and Planetary Sciences, occupies over 5,000 square feet of space and is designed to foster interdisciplinary research.
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2024 NEMMERS PRIZE

 

Prof Barbara Sherwood Lollar

(Above photo credit: Diana Tysko)
Earth and Planetary Sciences awards our fourth Nemmers Prize in Earth Sciences to Barbara Sherwood Lollar "[f]or her groundbreaking discoveries across several fields of Earth and environmental sciences, illuminating fundamental aspects of Earth’s life-sustaining water and carbon cycles.”

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LATEST NEWS

 
In the new study, researchers looked not to the depths of the oceans but to ancient strata along the northwest edge of a mountain on Japan’s Hokkaido Island. The rocks, or tuffs, formed from volcanic ash that settled and solidified over time. Photo by Luca Podrecca

Prehistoric Rock in Japan Reveals Clues to Ocean Extinction Event

New analysis pinpoints timing and duration of extreme environmental disruption that choked oxygen from Earth’s oceans.
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Testing limestone’s ability to capture carbon from air

“Within the past few years, interest in enhanced rock weathering has increased exponentially,” said Northwestern’s Andrew D. Jacobson, who is the principal investigator on the grant. “The decarbonization industry is rapidly expanding, and Northwestern is ideally positioned to take a lead role to hone enhanced weathering. We are motivated to test enhanced weathering’s potential with the highest levels of scientific rigor and quality.”

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Merger creates new Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences

We are delighted to announce that we are now the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences (DEEPS)!
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