Faculty Research

Faculty research areas

The table below provides a summary of the research areas all the faculty in our department. For non-geologists, it may be unclear how different subdisciplines of geology can be applied. For example, some of the geochemistry, geomicrobiology, and sedimentary geology research in our department is related to understanding climate, including modern controls on Earth's climate and past variation in climate (i.e., paleoclimate). The table attempts to shed light on those linkages. More details about specific research interests of each of our faculty members are available on individual faculty pages. If you would like to learn more, we encourage you to contact them directly.

Research Areas and Topics	Related Subdisciplines	Faculty
Climate	Geochemistry, Geomicrobiology, Sedimentary Geology, Geochronology, Geomorphology, Quaternary Geology	Goldberg, Kirk, Spencer
Deep Earth Processes	Geophysics, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, Structural Geology	Adam, Brueseke, Kempton, Lacroix
Earth Surface Processes	Geochemistry, Geomorphology, Geochronology, Quaternary Geology, Sedimentary Geology	Goldberg, Kirk, Spencer
Geological Carbon Storage	Geochemistry, Geomicrobiology, Geophysics	Kirk, Raef
Mineral Resources	Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, Structural Geology	Brueseke, Kempton, Lacroix
Earthquakes and Volcanoes	Geochronology, Igneous Petrology, Quaternary Geology, Structural Geology	Brueseke, Kempton, Lacroix, Spencer
Coastal and Ocean Processes	Geophysics, Geochronology, Geomorphology, Quaternary Geology	Spencer
Oil and Gas Resources	Geophysics, Petroleum Geology, Petrophysics, Sedimentary Geology	Raef, Cui
Water and Soil Resources	Environmental Geology, Hydrogeology, Geochemistry, Geomicrobiology, Geophysics, Geochronology, Geomorphology, Quaternary Geology	Adam, Ghanbarian, Kirk, Spencer, Raef