Academic expertise. Research prowess. Student success.

There’s a whole world of discovery in the ground beneath your feet. From the shifting of tectonic plates to the eruption of volcanoes, learn about the Earth and all of the natural processes that have shaped it over time.

Department faculty, researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students pursue field, laboratory, experimental, and modeling studies of geological and environmental problems around the world. The department's excellent facilities and technical personnel support a range of methods and the department's ideal location also provides ready access to the many natural laboratories of Nevada, California and the western United States. Research specialties include Earth and planetary surface processes, geodynamics, volcanology, geochemistry, petrology, earthquakes and seismology, mineral and energy resources, hydrology and hydrogeology.

Why choose our programs?

Wendy Calvin instructs two students on how to use a research instrument.

Dedicated faculty

Our leading research-active faculty receive funding from national and international agencies, providing graduate students with a thriving work environment, valuable hands-on experience, and financial support to pursue their own research.

Meet our faculty
Lake Tahoe sunset.

Rich outdoor environment

Our campus is less than an hour away from some of the most beautiful and geologically interesting landscapes in the country, like Lake Tahoe and the Black Rock desert. We learn in an environment that encourages exploration and recreation.

Learn about Reno-Tahoe
A group watches on as a man flies a drone with a mountain backdrop.

Facilities & instruments

Our graduate students enjoy a full complement of modern facilities, instrumentation, laboratories and technical support personnel, all paired with the many natural laboratories of Nevada, California and the western United States.

Labs and facilities

Department news

Jim Faulds hands Senator Catherine Cortez Masto an award. The award is a block of wood with a plaque and a piece of a gold-colored rock on it. They are both dressed formally and are smiling for the photo, being taken in an office.

Mackay School professor presents award to Senator Cortez Masto

Senator Cortez Masto received the AASG’s Pick and Gavel award

Daniel Trugman smiles in a selfie on a mountaintop. He is wearing a green beanie.

Assistant professor wins prestigious Seismology Society of America award

Daniel Trugman joined the University in 2022

A person wearing gloves holds a rock in their hand. The rock is dark gray on the exterior, but the interior is cut and is a shiny bronze color.

How do I know if I found a meteorite?

Geologist explains differences between meteorites and meteor-wrongs

View all news from the Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering