Program

Concentrations

Geosciences

• Atmospheric Sciences

  Research focuses on hurricane dynamics, hurricane impacts, hurricane boundary layer turbulence structures, atmospheric convection, atmospheric boundary layer and clouds, and cloud-climate feedbacks.

• Environmental Biogeoscience

  Research in this concentration applies knowledge of geological, biological, physical, and chemical processes to current threats facing the biosphere, including deteriorating water and air quality, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem function, soil degradation, coastal erosion, and other emerging issues at local or global scales.

• Geophysics/Remote Sensing

  Geophysical investigative techniques use gravity, magnetism, seismic reflection and refraction, earthquake seismology, thermal properties and satellite imagery. Land-based geophysical studies may focus on the Caribbean and South American seismicity and crustal structure. Environmental geophysical studies may be based in the South Florida and Caribbean regions.

• Hydrogeology/Hydrology

  Research includes field and modeling approaches to groundwater flow and solute fluxes in the subsurface and near-subsurface environments. Topics include the interaction of surface water and groundwater, solute transport, chemical and isotopic tracing techniques, watershed hydrology in Florida, Central America and other locations.

  Igneous petrology/geochemistry/economic geology research problems emphasize the petrology/geochemistry of igneous and metamorphic rocks with reference to their origin, and relationships in time and space. Topics include the origin of hydrothermal and other economic deposits, and the field occurrence, geochemistry, and petrogenesis of crystalline rocks, especially those of the Caribbean region and South America. Trace element and isotope geochemistry may be applied to the study of the petrogenetic associations.

• Paleontology

  Research topics of the faculty and students include paleoecology, facies analysis, paleobiogeography, evolutionary processes, biodiversity, biostratigraphy and the response to global climatic changes, as interpreted from microfossils, especially foraminifera and radiolarians.

• Stratigraphy/Sedimentology

  Research in this concentration includes sedimentary petrology, sedimentary environments, paleoenvironments, paleoceanography, sequence stratigraphy, cyclic stratigraphy, microfacies analysis and basin analysis. Field and laboratory techniques are applied to the solution of problems in these topics, especially as applied to sedimentary rock sequences of South Florida, the Caribbean and Central America. The evolution of sedimentary basins in these regions are studied in relation to global and regional tectonics.

• Tectonics/Structural Geology

  Field- and lab-oriented research employs methods of structural analysis. Analysis of geologic deformations is based upon the principles of mechanics and utilizes field data. Field areas include the Caribbean and South America.

Natural Resource Science and Management

• Land and Aquatic System Science

  Multidisciplinary scientific and research techniques are applied to managing environmental problems and sustainable use of land and aquatic resources; and quantifying and understanding physical, chemical and biological process operating on land and in water, soil and other environments.

• Natural Resource Management

  The interactions between natural systems and human systems are evaluated. Research and management problems are addressed in the fields of natural resource conservation, ecosystem restoration, agroecology, ecotoxicology, forestry, wildlife, fisheries, and coastal and marine resources.

• Environmental Economics and Policy

  The effectiveness of policies in managing environmental pollution, sustainable development, energy resources, climate change, food and agriculture, community forests, and conservation programs are analyzed. Research methods include ecosystem service valuation, economic modeling, and ethnographic and other behavioral analyses.