Earth Science and Geography

The Department of Earth Science and Geography hosts two distinct programs, a natural science (Earth Science) and a social science (Geography), that provide students with an integrative place to learn about the Earth system and human interactions with our environment.

In Earth Science, students learn how development affects water resources and pollution, how soils form and what makes them support the food we eat, about our changing oceans and climate, about environmental justice and geohazards in the Anthropocene, and about the history of our Earth, its climates, and the creatures that evolved here.

In Geography, students learn how political, economic, cultural, and environmental forces shape spatial patterns and flows of activities, resources, people, and ideas in our world. We explore themes such as sustainable landscapes and communities, global political economic systems, cities and planetary urbanization, and the spatial underpinnings of social justice and human rights.

Students in both programs learn analytical skills such as GIS (computer mapping and analysis), modeling, and field techniques. Both disciplines also share an interest in climate, environmental quality, and their impacts on communities around us.

Students can choose to major in Earth Science, in Geography, in the combined Earth Science and Society major, or in a joint Geography-Anthropology major, which integrates cultural anthropology with the study of human geography.

Want to get involved? There are lots of project opportunities, and we’ve listed a few of them in our GIS and sustainability project exchange.

Terra Firma! Newsletter

News

Two people shaking hands over a table with two banners behind them that read: University of Edinburgh and Vassar.

Vassar-Edinburgh Partnership Breaks New Ground

The BA/MSc collaboration focuses on global climate change and will prepare students to help generate new ideas that may offer solutions. Students will earn an undergraduate bachelor’s degree from Vassar and a master’s in science from the University of Edinburgh.

Kirsten Menking, Professor of Earth Science, Was Elected as a Geological Society of America Fellow

Kirsten Menking, Professor of Earth Science on the Althea Ward Clark Chair and Chair of Earth Science and Geography, was elected as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in recognition of her distinguished contributions to the field.

A group of smiling people seated on a wooden bridge with a waterfall and a mountain in the background.

Student Scientists Make the Most of Research Trip to Iceland

Sixteen students from a variety of science disciplines and two faculty members spent two weeks conducting a wide variety of research projects.

Person standing smiling in a lab with scientific equipment in the background.

Vassar Professor Awarded Climate Research Grant

Associate professor of Earth Science Laura Haynes has been awarded a $500,000 federal grant to join a nationwide research project focusing on mitigating global warming.

Joseph Nevins researches ties between the United Fruit Company and Boston

Joseph Nevins, Professor of Geography, is an awardee of the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium (NERFC) for 2022. Professor Nevins’s fellowship will allow for eight weeks of archival research this summer on the ties between the United Fruit Company and Boston, where the corporation was founded and headquartered.

Students standing on the birthplace of modern Geology, Siccar Point.

Straight from the Source: Vassar Class Goes Overseas for Firsthand Glimpse of the History of Geology

Students enrolled in Earth Science and Science Technology and Society 323, “History of Geological Thought,” visited several venues in the United Kingdom to gain insights into how the science of geology began.

Professors of Earth Science acquire grant for SEM microscope and EDS spectrometer

Professors of Earth Science Laura Haynes, Kirsten Menking, and Jeffrey Walker received a National Science Foundation Earth Sciences Instrumentation and Facilities (EAR/IF) grant to acquire a Tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (EDS).

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