| Overview
 |
| Drilling salt cores within Death
Valley, California. Research of Tim
Lowenstein. |
The Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies
at the State University of New York at Binghamton is dedicated to
understanding the processes and properties of the Earth's interior,
surface, hydrosphere and atmosphere. The first president of the
university, Glenn Bartle, was a geologist, so it is not surprising
that the Geology Department was one of the first university departments.
Through its history, the department has been small, but with a strong
reputation in geomorphology (thanks largely to Don Coates and Marie
Morisawa), stratigraphy and paleontology (Dick Beerbower), geophysics
and sedimentology. More recently, the emphasis of the department
has evolved to encompass the areas of environmental geology, hydrology
and natural hazards. Today, the department consists of 16 faculty,
about 30 graduate students, and a support staff of seven. Grant-supported
research is currently being performed in the areas of paleoclimatology,
lithospheric structure determination, earthquake hazard modeling,
neotectonics, experimental petrology, magmatic processes, and fluvial
sedimetology.
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Fold in the Chartreuse Mountains
north of Grenoble, France.
Photo by Jeff Barker. |
Graduate students in the department are actively involved in research
projects which take them to all regions of the globe. Some of the
current projects are in New Zealand, Taiwan, Chile, Mexico, China,
and Canada. The undergraduate program in geology is of moderate size
(50-60 students), allowing small classes and personal attention. These
students are also involved in field and laboratory research. They
receive a strong background in basic geology, as well as training
in a variety of specializations. A particularly popular undergraduate
program in environmental studies (approximately 250 majors) combines
the scientific approach with an understanding of public policy and
planning issues. The department has been very successful in placing
both undergraduate and graduate students in valued jobs in the geological
sciences and in some of the best graduate programs in the country.
In addition, some undergraduate geology and environmental studies
students have found success in diverse fields of their choice, such
as law, medicine and business.
Due to recent, grant-supported acquisitions, the department has
outstanding facilities for research and teaching. Some of these
include a "Super Probe", shallow seismic reflection instruments,
networks of
workstations and PCs, and computerized audiovisual displays.
For details see the Research Facilities
Page.
General Information and a Note on our Name
The official name of the university is the State University of New
York at Binghamton. Out in the world, most people recognize us as
SUNY Binghamton. On campus, however, we now have a new, short-form
name, Binghamton University. Thus, the following links to the university's
official information pages, and the university's home page, use the
name Binghamton University.
Look here to find general information about the university, its
history, facts and figures, the community, etc. About
Binghamton University
Questions or comments: Anne Hull, Webmaster at: ahull@binghamton.edu
Standard Disclaimer
Last modified: February 11, 2008 (adh)
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