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Majors and Programs

Explore the majors and programs offered by the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences below.

Department News

Check out the latest news, research, and announcements from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences below.

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Dawn Sumner Elected as Fellow of the American Geophysical Union

Dawn Sumner — a UC Davis geologist, planetary scientist and astrobiologist — is among the 53 scientists newly elected as fellows of the American Geophysical Union, or AGU, for outstanding achievements and contributions to earth and space science. “I deeply appreciate this international recognition...READ MORE

Close-up of irregular, cratered gray asteroid floating against black space

Some Asteroids and Meteorites Formed Less Than 2 Million Years After Solar System’s Birth

To understand the nascent stages of our roughly 4.6-billion-year-old solar system, researchers rely on cosmic time capsules, such as asteroids and meteorites. These materials capture the chemistry of the environments in which they formed, and one of the most pristine and primitive is a class...READ MORE

Black-and-white photograph of silhouetted onlookers watching thick smoke rise over burning city

California Earthquakes and What the Next ‘Big One’ Could Look Like

Michael Oskin was camping with his friends atop San Gorgonio Mountain, southern California’s highest peak, when the infamous Lander’s earthquake struck just before 5 a.m. on June 28, 1992. As aftershocks from the 7.3 magnitude earthquake rolled through the campsite, trees..READ MORE

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