Department of Geosciences at UMass Amherst

HOW A MASSACHUSETTS SALT MARSH IS CHANGING WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT NEW ENGLAND’S COAST
New research shows that salt marshes grow from marine sediment washed ashore during storms, reversing commonly held assumptions
Upcoming Events
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Jun1
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Jun2
The global impact of the Antarctic Ice Sheet in a warming world: using numerical modeling and critical physical geography to assess climate change, sea level rise, and climate justice
Shaina SadaiU-Mass Geosciences1:00pmMS/PhD Defense
Student Spotlight
PhD student Karin Lehnigk uncovers the backstory of Earth's Varied Landscapes
Karin's research studies the roles that ancient megafloods played in shaping the Channeled Scablands in the Northwestern United States and their implications for forming similar features on Mars.

Department News
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Sustainable EweMass a Success
Dr. Britt Crow-Miller organized a cross-campus collaboration that brought 12 UMass sheep to the lawn between the FAC and Isenberg. “The idea is kind of to start a conversation about land management, and land management practices on campus and in our communities...” -
Castañeda honored with Lecture Series
Dr. Isla Castañeda has been named a lecturer in the U.S. Science Support Program's `22-23 Ocean Discovery Lecture Series. The program facilitates involvement of the U.S. scientific community in the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). For over 20 years, the Ocean Discovery Lecture Series (formerly the Distinguished Lecturer Series) has brought the remarkable scientific results and discoveries of the Program to academic research institutions, museums, and aquaria. -
Summer 2022 Courses
From Lakes in a Changing Climate to Diversity, Globalization, and Sustainability to Spatial Decision Making and Support, we have a host of great courses this summer to help you make change in the world. -
Energy Budgets of Faults
PhD student Laura Fattaruso, Professor Michele Cooke, and alum Dr. Jessica McBeck published a paper in Frontiers in Earth Science: Geohazards and Georisks highlighting the critical role that heterogeneities in materials, such as microcracks, play in leading up to failure and faulting in rock. -
Landscape Evolution Group featured in Smithsonian Magazine
Research by graduate students Karin Lehnigk, Evan Thaler, and Dr. Isaac Larsen was recently featured in two articles in Smithsonian Magazine. -
Julie BG receives career award
Professor Julie Brigham-Grette is the recipient of the 2022 American Quaternary Association's (AmQua) Distinguished Career Award: This is AmQua’s highest honor, that recognizes a senior-level scientist who has contributed significantly and continuously to advancing Quaternary science. -
New report on groundwater aquifers near Mt. Toby
Recent MS alum Matt Hemler and Professor David Boutt recently published new data on the hydrogeology of the area surrounding Mt. Toby in Leverett, Sunderland, Montague, and Amherst and its affects on local drinking water supplies. -
Arctic Sedimentary Record Reveals New Information
Recent undergrad alum Mark Lindberg, postdoctoral researcher Will Daniels, and professors Isla Castañeda and Julie Brigham-Grette published new research in the journal Climate of the Past providing a continuous look at a shift in climate, called the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, that has puzzled scientists. -
Castañeda receives Mentoring Award
Dr Isla Castañeda is a receipient of a 2022 ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentor Award. This annual award recognizes the critically important work faculty members perform in mentoring and supporting their colleagues’ professional development and success.
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Award-winning teaching, research opportunities, and interdisciplinary programs.