About the Department

Mission: To identify and solve fundamental and applied problems in the Geosciences and Environmental Sciences; to acquire new knowledge about Hawaiʻi, the Pacific Basin, and Earth; to serve society by teaching and training future geoscientists, teachers, and citizens; and to be a principal resource for objective Earth science expertise to the state of Hawaiʻi.

Description: The University of Hawaiʻi is a land grant, sea grant, and space grant institution, as reflected in our research and teaching programs. We offer BA, BS, MS, and PhD degrees with focusses in the Earth, Environmental, Marine, and Planetary sciences. We have 20+ regular faculty members and addtional 30+ graduate faculty working in all major sub-disciplines of the Earth Sciences. The Department of Earth Sciences normally has 50–60 graduate students and 40–50 undergraduate students in residence. About one half of the students are women and 15% are from foreign countries.

Programs: We offer active, extramurally-funded, research and study programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels, with excellent research facilities. Our geographic location in the midst of the Pacific Ocean and the rich geologic setting of Hawaiʻi provide a natural focus for research programs in a variety of focus areas.

Graphics and Logos: Downloads of some department graphics.

History: Geology as a discpline started at UH Mānoa in the 1930s, followed by formation of the department in the 1950s, as the first geosciences program at UHM. The department has gone by various names over this time span, and has occupied the 3 different buildings shown in the images above (Dean Hall, HIG and POST), each for 25 to 30 years

Department and degree name changes: Effective Sept. 2018, we changed our name to the Department of Earth Sciences from the Department of Geology and Geophysics, a name we had since the 1970s.

SOEST: Originally part of the College of Natural Sciences, ERTH department is now a part of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). The School was formed in 1988 to enhance educational opportunities and to accelerate growth of the university in these fields.

The department is organized into three research divisions:

• Geophysics and Tectonics (G&T) takes advantage of the University of Hawaiʻi’s mid-Pacific setting to investigate a wide variety of geodynamic, tectonic, and geophysical phenomena that operate over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales.
• Marine and Environmental Geology (MEG) is focused on the physical, biological and chemical interactions that characterize Earth surface environments. The program includes instructional and research opportunities in a wide range of topics related to marine, coastal, and tropical watershed environments.
• Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology (VGP) Hawaiʻi scientists are uniquely situated to learn all major aspects of volcanic systems. Researchers study ocean spreading centers, physical volcanology, intraplate volcanism, and volcano monitoring.