Course description
The Department of Geophysics' welcomes graduate students and faculty from throughout the United States and around the world. Together we are all creating a fertile global climate for stimulating cultural interaction.
Most graduate students in the Department of Geophysics receive financial aid from teaching assistantships, fellowship support from philanthropic gifts, government or private grants, and funded research projects. Financial aid is offered only to full-time students in a degree program. International students must demonstrate financial support for their first year. Support may be available through funded research projects for outstanding international candidates. Complete applications should be submitted by the deadline to insure priority consideration for fall semester financial support.
Geophysics, along with other geoscience and engineering disciplines, is relevant to solving important problems locally and globally:
Water
Characterizing aquifer dynamics in the Western US
Exploring for water for the 20% of Earth’s population that lacks it
Food
Characterizing soil, assessing irrigation in precision agriculture
Energy
Exploring and developing oil and gas, coal, coal bed methane, geothermal
Engineering
Investigating sites for subsurface construction, tunneling
Locating and characterizing underground infrastructure and utilities
Infrastructure
Monitoring, non-invasively, the utility infrastructure: natural gas, water, telecommunications, roads, railroads
Environment
Isolating toxic (nuclear, chemical) waste
Geohazards
Monitoring, forecasting, and mitigating risks associated with earthquakes, volcanoes, avalanches, tsunamis.
Defense
Locating land mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO)
Climate
Understanding climate change and its implications
Space
Exploring the planets, e.g., looking for water on Mars
Archaeology
Using non-invasive methods to locate subsurface sites/structures/artifacts
Mining
Locating old mine tunnels and underground facilities
Exploring for mineral resources and characterizing in situ and mine leach processes
