Department of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences (GRAD)
The Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences (EMES) advances understanding of the earth and ocean processes that govern our planet, shape diverse ecosystems, sustain life, and drive environmental change. We promote exploration and discovery of the natural world by engaging students in research-based learning at all levels. Our graduates are equipped with the strong science foundation, critical thinking skills, and interdisciplinary perspectives required to tackle current and future environmental and resource challenges. We encourage engaged service that translates knowledge for the public good. We support a welcoming and inclusive environment, foster diverse identities and perspectives, and encourage collaboration with all segments of society.
Facilities
The primary location of our department in Chapel Hill fosters interactions with faculty, students, and staff from other UNC–Chapel Hill departments, nearby research institutions and companies; places scientists within easy reach of RDU International Airport, allowing for the convenient transport of equipment and personnel to distant ports and field locations; and provides ready access to advanced computational resources through RENCI (Renaissance Computing Institute). The department’s marine laboratory, the Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, provides coastal access for field studies and instruction. Shared, flexible laboratory space is also now available at the Institute since the addition of a new wing.
The department maintains research facilities and office space in both Murray-Venable Hall and Elisha Mitchell Hall. Specialized analytical equipment and facilities supporting marine science include low background alpha, beta, and gamma detectors, a dedicated GC/MS system, a state-of-the-art isotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometry facility for compound specific carbon analyses, high capacity light- and temperature-controlled incubators, and a full range of specialized chromatographic and spectroscopic gear. Observational instrumentation for field use includes a suite of current meters and temperature/pressure sensors, near-bottom and sub-bottom water samplers and profilers, and a specially built a sensor and data system for aircraft sampling of the coastal ocean and atmosphere.
Geological instrumentation includes two thermal ionization mass spectrometers with associated Class 100 clean labs; quadrupole ICPMS; a sediment analysis laboratory including refrigerated core storage; a laser-size particle analyzer; X-ray fluorescence spectrometer; X-ray diffractometer; scanning electron microscope with X-ray analysis and cathodoluminescence; counting laboratory (alpha-, beta-, and gamma-emitting radionuclides); experimental petrology laboratory. Access to a field-emission electron microprobe is also available through a remotely operated system at Fayetteville State University.
Geological Sciences
The department offers programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geological sciences. A broad background is offered in most major areas of geoscience, with particular emphasis on global hydrology, flooding and fluvial hydrology, coastal processes and geomorphology, isotope geochemistry and geochronology, seismology, volcanology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, low-temperature geochemistry, paleoclimatology and paleoecology, structural geology and tectonics, surface processes, and tectonic geomorphology.
Admission and General Degree Requirements
Students admitted to pursue a graduate degree in the department are typically expected to have an undergraduate degree in traditional geology, geochemistry, geophysics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, or other related interdisciplinary fields. Please note that the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is no longer required of applicants. All foreign students whose native language is not English also must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination.
Course requirements for incoming students will be determined by individual graduate committees, often in consultation with the director of graduate studies. Specific requirements are varied to meet the needs and career objectives of the individual.
Financial Aid
The department typically supports 10–12 graduate students in geological sciences with teaching assistantships during the 9-month academic year with stipends of ~$18000. In addition, all graduate students are eligible to apply for departmental summer fellowships ($7,000), research funds, and conference funds from a departmental endowment.
The department also nominates up to three students for consideration by The Graduate School for graduate fellowships; no additional application is necessary. Faculty research grants support some research assistantships. Out-of-state students are recommended for remission of out-of-state tuition costs; all students are recommended for an in-state tuition award. Most students are eligible for both and therefore are responsible only for the payment of student fees. Further information may be found on the department's website.
Master of Science
Doctor of Philosophy
Many students have completed a master's degree before being admitted to the doctoral program, but some students enter the Ph.D. program having completed only an undergraduate degree. Students admitted to the M.S. program who elect to pursue a Ph.D. instead may be permitted to bypass the master's degree after one semester of residence upon demonstration of superior scholastic performance and research potential. Recommendation by the student's graduate committee and approval by the geological sciences faculty is required in this case.
Admission to the Ph.D. program after completing the M.S. degree in the Department of Geological Sciences requires faculty approval.
Requirements for the Ph.D. degree are a minimum of 48 semester hours of graduate credit (which may include 30 hours from the M.S. degree) and a minimum of six hours and preferably no more than 12 hours of GEOL 994, a written comprehensive examination and an oral comprehensive examination, a dissertation, and a final oral examination in defense of the dissertation.
Marine Sciences
The department provides teaching and research in estuarine, coastal, and oceanographic sciences leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in marine sciences. Research programs in physical oceanography, marine biology and ecology, marine geochemistry, marine geology, and coastal meteorology are conducted in North Carolina and throughout the world by faculty from the department.
Courses and facilities at other coastal laboratories are also available to UNC–Chapel Hill marine sciences students through cooperative agreements. Courses at North Carolina State University, UNC–Charlotte, UNC–Greensboro, North Carolina Central University, and Duke University may be taken for credit through an interinstitutional registration program.
Admission Requirements
For admission to the department, an undergraduate degree is required in a basic science such as physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, bacteriology, botany, zoology, geology, or in computer science or engineering. Students are advised to develop a broad undergraduate science major with as many as possible of the following courses: mathematics through calculus, computer science, physics, general and organic chemistry, environmental science, physical chemistry, invertebrate zoology or paleontology, botany, zoology, ecology, physiology, geology, and statistics.
Each graduate student must gain a broad background in the marine sciences as well as an in-depth understanding of his or her own subdiscipline (e.g., chemical oceanography). This is accomplished by taking at least three of the four core courses (listed below) and advanced courses determined by each student's advisory committee, and by participating in research that ultimately results in an M.S. thesis or a Ph.D. dissertation. By the end of the 24-month period that begins when a student first enrolls in the department, the student is expected to have completed the four core courses, How to Give a Seminar (MASC 705), and Student Interdisciplinary Seminar (MASC 706), and to have taken a written comprehensive exam (M.S. students) in his or her subdiscipline. Further information on degree requirements may be found at the department's website.
Master of Science
The M.S. degree program is similar to the Ph.D. program except for the following: the advisory committee will be composed of three faculty members, the comprehensive examination is a written exam only, and scientific research will result in a written thesis, to be defended by the student. At least 30 hours of course credit must be earned prior to completing the M.S. degree program. Additional details on the comprehensive examination, admission to candidacy, semesters of residence credit, the thesis, and final oral examination (the thesis defense) are provided in the Marine Sciences Graduate Student Handbook and in The Graduate School Handbook, both available on the department's website.
Doctor of Philosophy
The academic program for a Ph.D. student will be supervised by a faculty advisory committee of at least five members drawn from the UNC–Chapel Hill graduate faculty. Course requirements normally include at least three of the four core courses, additional advanced courses determined by the student's advisory committee, one hour of MASC 705 and one hour of MASC 706. A waiver for one or more of the core courses can be arranged with the approval of the student's advisory committee and the department's Performance Committee. Additional requirements include passing a comprehensive examination containing both written (research proposal) and oral (proposal defense seminar) parts, a period of study or research at a marine station or participation on an oceanographic cruise, teaching experience sufficient to develop and demonstrate competence, and scientific research resulting in a written dissertation, which is defended by the student. More details on the Ph.D. comprehensive examination, admission to candidacy, semesters of residence credit, the dissertation, and final oral examination (the dissertation defense) are provided in the Marine Sciences Graduate Student Handbook and in The Graduate School Handbook, both available on the department's website.
Marine Sciences Core Courses
Professors
Carol Arnosti, Marine Organic Geochemistry, Microbial Biogeochemistry
John M. Bane, Physical Oceanography and Meteorology, Gulf Stream and Upwelling Dynamics
Jaye Cable, Groundwater Dynamics at the Land-Sea Interface, Biogeochemical Cycling, Wetland and Coastal Hydrology
Drew S. Coleman, Isotope Geochemistry, Geochronology
Joel Fodrie, Fisheries Oceanography and Ecology, Restoration Ecology
Eric Kirby, Active Tectonics, Landscape Evolution, Tectonic Geomorphology
Jonathan M. Lees, Seismology, Volcanology
Niels Lindquist, Chemical Ecology, Natural Products
Richard Luettich, Coastal Physical Oceanography, Modeling, Coastal Hazards
Christopher S. Martens, Marine Geochemistry
Brent A. McKee, Geochemistry/Geology of River-Ocean Environments, Sedimentary Geochemistry/Radiochemistry
Laura J. Moore, Coastal Geology
Rachel Noble, Dynamics of Marine Microbial Food Webs
Janet Nye, Quantitatie Fisheries Ecology
Hans W. Paerl, Microbial Ecology
Tamlin M. Pavelsky, Global Hydrology
Mike Piehler, Coastal Ecosystems and Estuarine Ecology
Antonio B. Rodriguez, Sedimentology, Marine and Coastal Geology
Harvey E. Seim, Observational Physical Oceanography, Coastal and Estuarine Dynamics
Donna M. Surge, Paleoclimate, Paleoecology, Low-Temperature Geochemistry
Andreas Teske, Microbial Systematics and Evolution, Microbial Ecology, Microbiology of Hydrothermal Vents and the Marine Subsurface
Associate Professors
Marc J. Alperin, Chemical Oceanography, Biogeochemistry
Karl D. Castillo, Marine Physiological Ecology, Climate Change and Coral Reefs
Scott Gifford, Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry
Xiaoming Liu, Geochemistry
Adrian Marchetti, Ecophysiology and Molecular Biology of Marine Phytoplankton
Johanna Rosman, Coastal and Estuarine Fluid Dynamics
Alecia N. Septer, Microbiology
Kevin G. Stewart, Structural Geology
Brian L. White, Fluid Dynamics of Coastal Marine Systems, Hydrodynamics of Aquatic Vegetation, Gravity Currents, Shear Flows and Internal Waves
Assistant Professors
Kennet E. Flores, Petrologic and Tectonic Processes
Wei Mei, Tropical Cyclones and Climate Dynamics
Antonia Sebastian, Applied Hydrology and Water Resources
Research Professor
Michael J. Shore, Geophysics and Seismology
Research Assistant Professors
Nathan Hall
Ryan Mills, Geochemistry
Xiao Yang, Global Hydrology, Remote Sensing, Big Data Analytics
Professors Emeriti
Dan Albert, Larry K. Benninger, Joseph G. Carter, Paul Fullagar, Allen F. Glazner, Jan J. Kohlmeyer, A. Conrad Neumann, Daniel A. Textoris.
Assistant Teaching Professors
Michelle Haskin, Geoscience Education
Megan F. Plenge, Geoscience Education
GEOL
Advanced Undergraduate and Graduate-level Courses
This course will focus on the processes of soil formation, erosion, and landform evolution with an emphasis on the interaction of geomorphic processes with surface hydrology and ecosystems. (EES)
For graduate students; undergraduates need permission of the instructor. Investigates formation of the oceans, plate tectonics, carbonate reefs and platforms, sediment transport from the land to deep-sea fans, glacial-marine geology, marine records of changes in sea level and climate, and the evolution of barrier islands, estuaries, and deltas. Mandatory weekend field trip to the Southern Outer Banks. Course previously offered as MASC 503.
An introduction to the fossil record of plants, investigating how plants originated and changed through geological time to produce the modern flora. Both macrofossils and microfossils will be considered. Three lecture hours a week.
Graduate-level Courses
Required of all entering graduate students or permission of the department. A topical seminar in current research topics in the earth sciences. Presentations by selected faculty with an emphasis on in-depth, critical analysis of current research literature. Two hours a week.
Stratigraphic, sedimentologic, geochemical, petrologic, and paleontologic principles will be summarized. Emphasis is placed on both the techniques used in sedimentary geology and on the characteristics and processes that distinguish sedimentary environments.
Continuation of GEOL 703.
Application of thermodynamics, phase equilibria, thermobarometry, radiogenic and stable isotope geology, and geochemical modeling to the study of igneous and metamorphic rocks and crustal evolution.
Continuation of GEOL 705.
This course provides a broad view of cutting-edge research across the geo- and marine sciences and develops proposal-writing and scientific communication skills. Proposals follow the NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships program guidelines and involve peer review and oral presentations. Students will hone their critical thinking and scientific writing skills. They will learn how to craft project objectives and working hypotheses, explain the significance of the problem, outline broader implications, and effectively design a research plan.
Survey of isotopic studies in geology; geochronology, crustal evolution, heat flow, paleotemperatures, origin of ore deposits.
Fundamental physical processes necessary for an understanding of plate tectonics; stress and strain in solids; elasticity and flexure; heat transfer; gravity; mantle rheology and convection.
Introduction to the theory, methods and applications of stable isotopes to low- and high-temperature problems. Primary focus will be on the origin, natural abundance, and fractionation of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen isotopes.
All aspects of volcanism will be covered including seismology, geochemistry, deep structure, volcanic products and hazards. Readings of original papers will be stressed.
Develop explanatory and predictive models of the earth's climate. Introductory level and focused on modeling past climate with the hope of understanding its future. A thorough discussion of current global warming/climate change issues, including the science, history, and controversy, are the main topics of the last third of the course.
The goal of this seminar is to examine the Cretaceous to Eocene tectonics of the western United States to evaluate the putative flat slab processes responsible. Geologic research on the Laramide Orogeny predates plate tectonic theory, and the explosion of subsequent research warrants a reevaulation of existing theory.
MASC
Advanced Undergraduate and Graduate-level Courses
Survey of the ecological processes that structure marine communities in a range of coastal habitats. Course emphasizes experimental approaches to addressing basic and applied problems in marine systems.
A rigorous combination of field work, lab work, and colorful, original contemporary writing on the natural world will help tell the story of our many, evolving North Carolina coasts. Combining marine science and the creative literary arts, this immersive course will explore issues of change over many eras. This combination of social, cultural, and scientific observation will lead to imaginatively constructed, well-written non-fiction reportage about one of North America's most productive, compelling, and challenging regions.
Graduate-level Courses
Discussion of methods and strategies for giving effective technical presentations. Topics will include seminar structure, use of visual aids, personal and professional presentation, and responding to questions.
Marine Sciences graduate students will prepare and present a seminar on an interdisciplinary topic from contemporary research in marine systems.
Discussion of selected literature in the field of marine biology, ecology, and evolution.
Hands-on training, experience, and discussion of the application of molecular genetic tools to questions of ecology, evolution, systematics, and conservation.
An introduction to the theory and application of modeling biogeochemical processes in sediments. Diagenetic theory, numerical techniques, and examples of recently developed sediment models. Three lecture hours a week.
Momentum equations in a rotating reference frame, vorticity, potential vorticity, circulation, the shallow water model, Rossby and Kelvin waves, the Ekman layer. Three lecture hours a week.
Theories, models of large-scale dynamics of ocean circulation. Potential vorticity, quasi-geostrophy, instabilities.
Multi-disciplinary survey of circulation, sediment and biological processes operative in estuaries, on the shelf and at the shelf break.
Computational methods used in modeling oceanic circulation. Numerical solution of equations governing mass, momentum, and energy equations.
Physics of sub-mesoscale processes in the ocean. Nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Air-sea interaction. Mixing in the ocean boundary layer, convection, double diffusion. Near-inertial and high frequency internal waves. Three lecture hours a week.
Single, multistep methods for ODEs: stability regions, the root condition; stiff systems, backward difference formulas; two-point BVPs; stability theory; finite difference methods for linear advection diffusion equations.
Elliptic equation methods (finite differences, elements, integral equations); hyperbolic conservation law methods (Lax-Fiedrich, characteristics, entropy condition, shock tracking/capturing); spectral, pseudo-spectral methods; particle methods, fast summation, fast multipole/vortex methods.
Nondimensionalization and identification of leading order physical effects with respect to relevant scales and phenomena; derivation of classical models of fluid mechanics (lubrication, slender filament, thin films, Stokes flow); derivation of weakly nonlinear envelope equations. Fall.
Current models in science and technology: topics ranging from material science applications (e.g., flow of polymers and LCPs); geophysical applications (e.g., ocean circulation, quasi-geostrophic models, atmospheric vortices).
Experimental graduate level courses as offered by the Department.
Special topics courses in Marine Geology as offered by Department.
Special topics courses in Biological Oceanography as offered by Department.
Special topics courses in Physical Oceanography as offered by Department.
Special topics courses in Chemical Oceanography as offered by Department.
Special topics courses in Marine Sciences as offered by Department.