-
Welcome!
We are the University of Chicago Department of the Geophysical Sciences. We study the history, interior, and exterior of Earth and other planets.
Interested in graduate school?
Learn about our research
-
People
Our world-class scientists are fascinated with the natural processes that shape our world and cultivate the skills it takes to study them.
Interested in graduate school?
LEARN ABOUT OUR SCIENTISTS -
Facilities & Resources
From wave tanks to mass spectrometers, our department's laboratories allow our scientists to push the limits of their fields.
Interested in graduate school?
LEARN ABOUT OUR FACILITIES & RESOURCES
Research Spotlight
Professor Sue Kidwell uses the fossil record from the last thousand years to understand changes in biological baselines due to human populations.
Learn More Spotlight ArchiveStudent / Alumni Spotlight
Stewart Edie is a paleobiologist who wants to understand why some groups of organisms are more diverse that others, and how extinction prunes the tree of life.
Learn More Spotlight ArchiveFaculty Spotlight
Malte Jansen is a creative physical oceanographer with impressive mathematical chops and great taste in problems.
Learn more about Malte See all PeopleGeophysical Science News
-
“Geologist weaves science into her art at the loom”
April 04, 2019
Graduate student Claire Zurkowski was interviewed in a recent UChicago News piece about the intersection of her high-pressure geoscience research and weaving.
“It requires a steady hand and not too much coffee," she says.
Congratulations Claire!
-
Joanne Simpson celebrated by AGU
March 29, 2019
In honor of women's history month, today we celebrate the work and memory of Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the US to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology and a pioneer in the field. Her degree was given by UChicago's former Dept. of Meteorology, now part of our own Department.
You can learn more about her story and many others here, courtesy of the AGU.
Joanne Simpson (1923 - 2010).
-
Persistence of paleo-rivers featured across the board!
March 28, 2019
A recent paper led by Prof. Edwin Kite and co-authored by former Dept. member Gaia Stucky de Quay found that intense precipitation-fed runoff was a global phenomenon on Mars for over a billion years. The study has made quite a journalistic splash, featured so far in eight online publications, certainly with more to come.
Congratulations Prof. Kite & Dr. de Quay!
Articles:
UChicago News • AGU Eos • National Geographic • Popular Mechanics • Space.com • Newsweek • The Sun • Inverse
-
Sarah Aarons Interviewed for UChicago News
March 06, 2019
Research Specialist Sarah Aarons was interviewed in UChicago News for a recent paper published in AGU Letters! She and her coauthors analyzed ice cores from Taylor Glacier, finding evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed during the last interglacial. These results help shed new light on the cascading effects of rapid climate change.
Congratulations Sarah!
