test homepage

Majors and Programs

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

Please note: We have launched our Earth and Planetary Sciences major, our new undergraduate degree program. The Geology major is no longer accepting new students. The archived Geology page remains available through the menu.

Department News

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

An icy moon surface

Looking Inside Icy Moons

The outer planets of the Solar System are swarmed by ice-wrapped moons. Some of these, such as Saturn’s moon Enceladus, are known to have oceans of liquid water between the ice shell and the rocky core and could be the best places in our solar system to look for extraterrestrial life...READ MORE
The cover of Special Paper 563 with various entries

GSA Special Paper Honors Emeritus Professor Cathy Busby

The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences is proud to celebrate Emeritus Professor Cathy Busby, whose distinguished career in volcanology, sedimentology, structural geology, and tectonics has been honored with the publication of a new Geological Society of America Special Paper...READ MORE
A laboratory sits on the coast with the sea in the background.

Protecting the Ocean We Have

Fourth-year UC Davis geology student Sonia Somasundaram was studying in the Cadet Hand Library at the Bodega Marine Laboratory when a fellow student burst through the library’s doors. “This one student came running into the library, screaming about a whale,” recalled Somasundaram, who’s minoring...READ MORE

test homepage