Who We Are

With 13 research professors, 8 instructors, and 3 active emeriti, we are a relatively small department by both Faculty of Sciences and Canadian standards. Nevertheless, we are building on our current strengths in geochemistry, geophysics, climate change, and natural hazards/environmental change which are also reflected in our environmental and earth sciences teaching tracts. In fact, in 2024-2025 the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences has awarded us four new positions in these fields! Two positions are already advertised (see new positions) and the other two will be advertised around the new year. We offer top quality undergraduate instruction which incorporates our own research experiences, emphasizing biogeochemistry, ecology, climate change and paleoclimatology, geophysics including seismology, high and low temperature geochemistry, stable and radioactive isotope geochemistry and geochronology, Arctic change and geology, mineral deposits, petroleum and renewable energy systems, numerical and analogue modeling, and GIS/remote sensing.

Our department benefits from the proximity of other earth sciences departments in Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, and the Geological Survey of Canada-Atlantic, and a strong Ocean Sciences program across multiple faculties. The benefits include numerous adjunct professor who act as supervisors, co-supervisors, and honours and graduate thesis committee members, and they offer our undergraduates and graduate students positions and bursaries so they can test what it’s like to conduct summer and semester employment in a wide range of research fields.