Geoscientists are the interpreters of our natural world. They bring methods such as geophysics, geochemistry, geobiology, and field geology together to understand the modern and ancient Earth. Clues concealed in rocks and fossils, minerals and fluids, mountains and sediments, glaciers and volcanoes are marshaled to understand and explain the Earth system at all scales. Managing water, mineral, and energy resources, developing sustainable strategies for industrial growth, and coping with natural and anthropogenic hazards facing increasing global populations, including climate change, all depend on a deep understanding of natural processes. Our graduates study the Earth in this context, with careers in diverse fields including, but not limited to, research, mineral and oil exploration, policy analysis, environmental science, and resource management. The programs offered by this Department focus on the whole planet and global processes as a dynamic and integrated system.