Many of the grand challenges for present and future generations concern issues deeply embedded within the Earth Sciences. The human capacity for environmental stewardship, and societal needs for understanding the availability and development of key resources require an understanding of the depth of geologic time and the Earth processes that affect rock, air, and water. Education and the scientific investigation of the Earth, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, other planetary bodies, and the solar system are central to the activities within the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico.<br><br>The Department offers a large and expanding variety of introductory and intermediate courses for undergraduate students who are interested in learning about how our fascinating planet works (including an option for a Minor in Earth Sciences). Undergraduate programs emphasize a solid foundation in a broad range of Earth and Planetary Science disciplines, with research opportunities for advanced undergraduates in particular fields. Graduate students may pursue studies emphasizing climatology and paleoclimatology, crystallography and materials science, environmental geology, geochemistry, geomorphology, geophysics, geodynamics, geospatial analysis, hydrology, igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology, invertebrate and vertebrate paleontology, mineralogy, paleomagnetism, planetary sciences, sedimentology, soils, stratigraphy, structural geology, tectonics, and volcanology.