University of California, Santa Cruz

Program Information

Degree Offered

Coursework Masters and Thesis Masters, Coursework Masters and Thesis Masters

Format: Campus

Program Description:

The Earth & Planetary Sciences Department at the UC, Santa Cruz has an outstanding reputation; our graduates are leaders in academia, research, government, and industry. We offer both master's and doctoral programs. Admission is highly competitive, and prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact prospective faculty advisors to learn more about ongoing and planned research activities, and to explore funding, coursework, and other opportunities.

Faculty members, researchers, staff, and graduate students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and research experience. What we have in common is intense dedication to understanding the origins and dynamics of Earth and planetary systems. Our research takes us to labs and field sites around the world, and has resulted in frequent publication in top-tier scientific journals, and numerous grants, awards, and honors from scientific and public groups.

Research areas being actively pursued by faculty, staff, researchers, and students at UC Santa Cruz include: seismology, rock and mineral physics, paleomagnetism, geodynamics, paleoclimate and climate change, coastal geology, structural geology, active tectonics, igneous geochemistry and volcanology, geochronology, paleoecology, hydrology and hydrogeology, atmospheric science, glaciology, and planetary science.
Faculty, staff, researchers, and students collaborate with colleagues from many other UCSC departments (including Environmental Toxicology, Ocean Sciences, Anthropology, Biology, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Environmental Studies, and Astronomy) and research units (including the Institute of Marine Sciences, and the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics), the United States Geological Survey, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NASA Ames Laboratory, and many other international, federal, state, and local agencies and institutions.

Tuition & Financial Aid

Financial Aid Offered: No

Classification: Doctoral/Research Universities - Extensive

Institution Sector: Public

Locale: Small City

Size & Settings: 10,000 - 19,999