Dalhousie Earth Sciences

Earth Sciences has had a long history at Dalhousie, with the first Geology programme established in 1879. Since then, we have grown from a one-man operation to a small but diverse department, with 12 professors and 5 instructors, graduating 10-20 honours students every year. Our students get to know and support each other pretty well through their small classes, field schools, and the Dawson Geology Society. There is also a close connection between faculty and students - we know our students’ names and how they are doing. We believe in the importance of hands-on learning, particularly in the field and in the lab, and in the interconnections between teaching and research. In addition to maintaining a strong core programme in traditional fields of geology, our department has embraced the growth of environmental geoscience by offering courses, and collaborating with other units to provide joint programmes, in Geographic Information Systems, Geography, Environmental Science, and Ocean Science, and Sustainability. Our honours programme meets the criteria for professional registration in Geology and Environmental Geoscience. Earth Sciences houses a number of research laboratories, some of which operate as regional facilities also used by researchers outside the department. Most of these labs are also used for honours and graduate student teaching and thesis research. Several other facilities operate mainly as support labs for our teaching and research programmes, and offer services to the community at large.