The Department of Geosciences

The Department of Geosciences brings together expertise in the Earth sciences, biology, chemistry, and physics to explore the system dynamics of Earth and similar planets. Our faculty investigate the habitability of Earth and other planets in the past, present and future, explore processes that modify the Earth’s surface in response to natural and anthropogenic forces, and provide the fundamental science for the development and management of natural resources and assessment of natural hazards.

We achieve our mission by attracting and retaining a diverse, world-class faculty and student body, by providing a stimulating and collegial educational and research experience for undergraduate and graduate students, and by educating a broader population to make informed decisions about key environmental and resource issues.

Since the first Department of Geology at Penn State was created in 1921, the department has offered a variety of B.S., B.A., and advanced degrees. In 2025 these included a B.S. in Earth Sciences, Earth Science and Policy, Geobiology, and Geosciences, a B.A. in Geosciences, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Geosciences with dual degrees in Astrobiology, Biogeochemistry, and Climate Science.

Note: Events prior to the 1990s are documented in earlier historical publications (see “The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State” book by E. Willard Miller) and are intentionally not repeated here.

1988
Merger of Three Graduate Programs

The Department of Geosciences was created in 1971 from the departments of geology/geophysics and geochemistry/mineralogy, but retained separate graduate programs in geochemistry-mineralogy, geology, and geophysics. With the adoption of a new governing constitution, the three graduate programs were combined into a single program awarding M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Geosciences.
1990
Faculty Turnover and New Directions

In 1990, the Department of Geosciences began a decade-long transition, marked by a modest 20% reduction in faculty size and a shift in research focus from high-temperature/pressure studies on silicates and oxides to chemical weathering, global geochemical cycles, and numerical modeling.
1990
New Undergraduate Geosciences Curriculum

Six core courses in Physical Geology, Earth Materials, Physical Processes, Earth History, Structural Geology, and Field Geology were combined with a year-long senior level research project culminating in a Senior Thesis to form the core of a modern B.S. curriculum.
1991
Dr. Michael A. Arthur appointed Department Head

Dr. Shelton S. Alexander was succeeded in January of 1991 by Dr. Michael A. Arthur, a paleoceanographer specializing in the circulation and chemistry of past oceans, their relation to changes in global climate, and geochemical cycles of various elements.
1997
Dr. Rudy L. Slingerland appointed Department Head

Slingerland was home-grown, having received his M.S. (1973) and Ph.D. (1977) from the department. He was a sedimentary geologist/geomorphologist and member of ESSC (the Earth System Science Center) who promoted the study of geological systems through mathematical and computational models.
1998
New Petroleum Geosystems M.S. Program

This M.S. program grew from the need of industry for interdisciplinary scientists trained in problem-based collaborative research. Graduate students studied in interdisciplinary cohorts focused on problems coordinated with industry sponsors. Turgay Ertekin, professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering, and Peter Flemings, associate professor of geosciences, led the initiative.
1999
Penn State Astrobiology Research Center (PSARC) Established

PSARC was created in EMS as a member organization of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, to conduct research on life in the universe and its cosmic implications. Dr. Hiroshi Ohmoto directed this interdisciplinary center that brought together researchers from the Departments of Geosciences, Meteorology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biology and Chemistry.
1999
Rise in department stature

By 1999 Penn State Geosciences had risen to national prominence, ranking 7^th in geology, 3^rd in sedimentology/stratigraphy, and 5^thin both geochemistry and hydrogeology.
2000
Dramatic changes in enrollment, staffing, and disciplinary focus

By the start of the new millennium, undergraduate majors had fallen to levels not seen since the 1960s, and a period of tenure-track faculty turnover brought new expertise in global change, numerical modeling of earth systems, crustal geodynamics, and astrobiology.
2000
The rise of non-traditional research and educational programs

2000-2010 saw the rise of novel, externally funded programs including the Biogeochemical Research Initiative for Education (BRIE); Center for Environmental Kinetics Analysis (CEKA); Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS); Center for Geomechamics, Geofluids, and Geohazards; and Appalachian Basin Black Shales Group (ABBSG).
2000
New B.A. in Geosciences

This degree was designed for non-traditional students interested in the intersections among geoscience and environmental law, planning, and business.
2003
Dr. Timothy Bralower appointed Department Head

Bralower brought research expertise in micropaleontology, paleoceanography, and mass extinctions that dovetailed nicely with the department’s focus on global change.
2005
NSF Award for Building and Maintaining a Pipeline for Diversity

Dr. Tanya Furman grew a partnership between The Pennsylvania State University and Jackson State University that provided longitudinal opportunities, training, mentoring and support for students and faculty members from underrepresented groups in the Geosciences.
2005
New B.S. in Geobiology

The burgeoning field of biogeochemistry underpinned a new B.S. degree in Geobiology.
2006
Two New Diversity Programs: AfricaArray & Fort Valley State Dual Degree Program

Professor Andrew Nyblade launched a geophysics field course in South Africa to grow Earth science capacity, with students participating from several minority-serving institutions. This became aligned with a partnership between Penn State and Fort Valley State University (FVSU) to offer a combined 3-year + 2-year dual-degree program.
2006
Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory

Dr. Susan L. Brantley was instrumental in launching a program of NSF-funded observatories to better understand the critical zone–the region of the Earth’s surface from top of the vegetation canopy to the bottom of groundwater.
2010
Trends in geoscience education

Undergraduate and, to a lesser extent, graduate enrollments rebounded as the price of oil rose and the new technology of fracking organic-rich shales in the U.S. drove workforce expansion. A new B.S. in Earth Science and Policy reflected the growing importance of geoscience and geography in questions of public policy.
2010
Rise in department stature

US News and World Report ranked the department 6^th among Earth Sciences programs, 1^st in environmental science, 2^nd in geochemistry, 3^rd in geology and 8^th in paleontology. Four members of the faculty were members of the National Academy of Sciences.
2011
Dr. Lee Kump appointed Department Head

Kump, an expert in biogeochemical cycles, environmental biogeochemistry, and atmosphere/ocean evolution, led the department until 2017 when he was named the seventeenth dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
2017
Dr. Timothy Bralower appointed Interim Department Head

Bralower once again served as Department Head when Lee Kump became Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
2018
Major lab renovations in the basement of Deike Building

With NASA support for a new Astrobiology Center led by Professor Katherine Freeman, the University funded major facility upgrades in Deike Building, including a world-class isotope geochemistry lab named in honor of the late, renowned department faculty member Peter Deines; new labs for sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleontology, terrestrial paleoecology, and crustal petrology; a rock prep facility; remodeled seismic station; and field prep space for geophysics and ice research.
2018
Dr. Demian Saffer appointed Department Head

Saffer, a geophysicist who studied the role of fluids in tectonic processes, was appointed Department Head in 2018 and left a year later for the University of Texas to become the director of its Institute for Geophysics.
2019
Dr. Andrew Nyblade appointed Department Head

Nyblade, a geophysicist with over 25 years on the faculty and expertise in Earth structure and processes over scales ranging from the deep mantle to the surface, was appointed Department Head.
2019
Dramatic changes in enrollments, staffing, and disciplinary focus

Under Nyblade’s leadership, the department hired 13 new faculty members to replace retirees and created the largest tenure-track faculty since 2000. Undergraduate majors slowly declined and fewer advanced degrees were awarded due to declining financial support from the university and federal government.
2020
Establishment of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program

Dr. Elizabeth Hajek was appointed the inaugural Associate Head for DEI programs within the department, overseeing a DEI program committee.
2020
Updates in department stature

US News and World Report ranked the department 1^st in geology, 2^nd in environmental sciences, 2^nd in geochemistry, 6^th in Earth Sciences and 8^th in paleontology. Updated rankings in 2023 placed geophysics at 9^th.
2024
Dr. Christopher House appointed Interim Department Head

House, a 24-year member of the department and Director of the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium, whose research focuses on origin and evolution of microbial life, was appointed Interim Department Head.
2025
Dr. Eric Kirby appointed Department Head

Kirby, a tectonic geomorphologist who taught on the faculty at Penn State from 2002 to 2013, returned to the department after serving as Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Oregon State University and Department Chair at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.