About Us

The Department of Earth and Environmental Systems (EES) unites multiple disciplines under one physical roof (Snowden), to provide an integrated experience for students interested in how the Earth and its environment shape our lives, and how we in turn shape our planet. Our classes combine lectures with hands-on experiences that leverage our 13,000 acre campus, and we balance experimental and laboratory work with the modeling and technical skills needed in the modern workplace.

Our Programs

Natural Resources

This major combines coursework in Forestry & Geology with the courses in anthropology, archaeology, and environmental ethics to give you broad career preparation for jobs that require a balanced understanding of the intrinsic and utilitarian value of the Earth's finite resources.

Watershed Science Certificate

This certification is designed to give you a better understanding of the interactions among the physical, chemical, and biological factors that affect our watersheds and wetlands. It will also give students interested in hydrology or environmental consulting a leg up in the job market. 

What we offer:

Faculty & Staff
Learn more about who we are and what we do.

Teaching and advising students takes a village. In our department, that includes all of our faculty and staff. 

Find out more about our Faculty & Staff
Student-Faculty Research
Learn more about opportunities for student research.

Departmental research opportunities support a wide range of student interests, from experiences rooted in the great outdoors to measurements conducted at world-class particle accelerators. 

Explore Research Opportunities in Earth & Environmental Science.
Internships & Careers
Move beyond the classroom to kickstart a meaningful career.

Explore your interests, develop your professional toolkit, find meaningful summer opportunities, and find out about career outcomes for graduates from across our majors.

Learn about internships & careers in Earth & Environmental Science.

Resources & Opportunities

Landscape Analysis Lab (LAL)

Through the LAL, students can take two courses in GIS, or Geographic Information System, which teaches students to collect and analyze spatial data. Additionally, the LAL provides GIS support for faculty, staff, and students in departments and offices across the university, local community, and regional organizations

Sewanee's Integrated Program in the Environment (SIPE)

SIPE has over 30 faculty and staff engaged with students on a variety of research and applied field projects. They provide internship support and are involved with management and conservation issues across the globe.

Sewanee Island Ecology

The Island Ecology Program has provided students the unique opportunity to live and work on St. Catherines, one of the largest undeveloped islands on the Atlantic coast of the United States for 34 years.

University Farm

The University Farm helps to nourish our students nutritionally and intellectually. Many of our students work on the farm and may even complete capstone projects utilizing this unique resource.

Departmental and Student News

Scholarship Sewanee
Undergraduate Research

Eighteen EES students presented research at the Scholarship Sewanee on topics as varied as subalpine forest mortality in the Rocky Mountains, thin section analysis of the Pennington Formation, phase transitions in hydrous sulfates at extreme pressures and temperatures, a multi-temporal landslide inventory for Wetar Island, and how regenerative practices affect soil carbon sequestration on small farms on the Cumberland Plateau.

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AGU Fall Meeting
Undergraduate Research

Undergraduates Brian Gulick (C'24) and Máté Garai (C'24) travelled to Chicago to present their geology research at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting. This is the largest international geology meeting in the world, and draws more than 25,000 scientists from over 100 countries! Also in attendance to present their work were Dr. Max Dahlquist and Dr. Lily Thompson (not shown).

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GSA Annual Meeting
Undergraduate Research

Christian Shushok and Audrey Burch presented their research at the Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting. Their work explores the properties of two minerals, epsomite and melanterite, at elevated pressures and extreme temperatures. These findings tie together work conducted in the Snowden laboratory, as well as spectroscopy measurements conducted at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory. 

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