Water, Climate & Environment

Program lead: Dr. Daniella Rempe

The department’s program on Water, Climate and Environment (WCE) include faculty who study Earth’s surface, atmosphere, oceans, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere and the interactions between these Earth system components. Faculty, scientists, and students in this research program seek to understand the connections and feedbacks between changes in climate, the atmosphere, the land surface, water resources, soils, vegetation, snow and ice, and oceans, as well as the implications of these changes for society. The programs’ researchers are experts in diverse observational, analytical, and computational tools. These tools are applied across a broad range of problems representing time and spatial scales spanning from milliseconds to millions of years, and from microns to global. Research by WCE members help guide policy and management at the local, state, federal and global levels. WCE faculty often collaborate with stakeholders and colleagues in other disciplines to inform applications of research to practice, management and policy. To learn more, please join the WCE research program for their seminar series.

Banner Res
Jay L. Banner‘s research investigates 1) the impacts of urbanization on water resources and 2) reconstruction of past climate change.
Breecker
Daniel O. Breecker investigates biogeochemical processes at or near the land surface like soils & paleosols, caves & stalagmites that give us insight into ancient Earth.
Cardenas

M. Bayani Cardenas is a hydrologist with expertise on surface and subsurface flow and reactive transport phenomena.
Ginny Catania
Ginny Catania studies the natural and climate-forced variability of Earth’s ice sheets using in-situ and remotely-sensed observations.
Kerry Cook
Kerry Cook is an atmospheric scientist who uses observations and simulations to understand and predict climate change and variability.
Halberstdt Research
Anna Ruth (Ruthie) Halberstadt (starting Fall 2024) integrates geologic data and numerical models to reconstruct Antarctic climate and ice sheet dynamics during warm periods spanning the past and future.
Heimbach
Patrick Heimbach is a computational oceanographer who studies the global ocean circulation and its role in climate variability and change.
Hesse
Marc A. Hesse studies the dynamics of porous media.  He is currently working on geodetic aquifer characterization and monitoring.
Matheny Res
Ashley M. Matheny works on ecohydrology, bio- and micro-meteorology, vegetation hydrodynamics, watershed hydrology, land-atmosphere interactions.
Nathan Miller
Nathan Miller studies low temperature Earth Systems and their evolution, through the integration of geochemistry, petrography, and field geology.
Dev Niyogijpg
Dev Niyogi studies hydroclimatic & environmental extremes (hurricanes, heavy rain systems,  heat waves, droughts) for sustainable cities and agricultural communities.
Geeta Persad
Geeta Persad uses climate models to study interactions between aerosols/air pollution, climate change, and the hydrologic cycle to inform climate policy and decision-making.
Rempe
Daniella Rempe investigates hydrology, geomorphology, ecohydrology, catchment hydrology, near-surface geophysics, hydrogeology.
Shanahan
Timothy M. Shanahan studies paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, paleolimnology, sedimentary geology & geochemistry, organic and isotope geochemistry.
Zong Liang Yang
Zong-Liang Yang studies the atmosphere-Earth exchange of momentum, radiation, heat, water & carbon dioxide at small & very large scale (remote-sensing & modeling).

WCE Course Lists

Spring 2024

Lower Division

Day Time Instructor Course Link
GEO 303E EARTH IN 2100-WB
  Internet CATANIA, GINNY A  
GEO 416W CLIMATE/WATER/THE ENVIRONMENT
TTH + Lab 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. PERSAD, GEETA
REMPE, DANIELLA M
Syllabus (Spring 2024)
GEO 476M AQUEOUS GEOCHEMISTRY
MWF 12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
BREECKER, DANIEL O Syllabus (Spring 2024)
GEO 376L FIELD METHS IN GROUNDWTR HYDRL
  May 7-June 5 CARDENAS, MEINHARD BAYANI
SHANAHAN, TIMOTHY MICHAEL
Syllabus (Spring 2024)

Upper Division or Graduate

GEO 371T SCI OF ENVIRONMNTL JUSTICE
F 1:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. BANNER, JAY L Syllabus (Spring 2024)
GEO 347D GLOBAL WARMING
TTH 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. COOK, KERRY H Syllabus (Spring 2024)
GEO 371T INTRO TO OCEAN SCIENCES
TTH 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. HEIMBACH, PATRICK Syllabus (Spring 2024) 
GEO 325M NUMERICAL MODELING GEOSCI
TTH 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. HESSE, MARC ANDRE Syllabus (Spring 2024)
GEO 371T CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION
TTH 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. NIYOGI, DEV  Syllabus (Spring 2024)
GEO 371T GEOHEALTH
TTH 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. NIYOGI, DEV Syllabus (Spring 2024)
GEO 382C GROUNDWATER FIELD METHODS
  May 7-June 5 CARDENAS, MEINHARD BAYANI
SHANAHAN, TIMOTHY MICHAEL
Syllabus (Spring 2024)

Fall 2024

Lower Division

Day Time Instructor Course Link
GEO 401 PHYSICAL GEOLOGY
TTH + Lab 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. BREECKER, DANIEL O Syllabus (Fall 2024)
GEO 371C GLACIOLOGY
TTH 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. CATANIA, GINNY A Syllabus (Fall 2024)
GEO 303E EARTH IN 2100-WB
  Internet NIYOGI, DEV Syllabus (Fall 2024)
GEO 303 INTRODUCTION TO GEOLOGY
TTH + Lab 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. SHANAHAN, TIMOTHY MICHAEL Syllabus (Fall 2024)

Upper Division or Graduate

Day Time Instructor Course Link
GEO 387D CLIMATE DYNAMICS
MW 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. COOK, KERRY H Syllabus (Fall 2024)
GEO 325C CONTINUUM MECHANICS
TTH 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. HESSE, MARC ANDRE Syllabus (Fall 2024)
GEO 343Q FUNDAMENTALS/APPLIC OF ICP-MS
TTH 12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m. MILLER, NATHANIEL ROSS Syllabus (Fall 2024)
GEO 371T LAND ATMOSPHERE INTACTN DYNAMS
TTH 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. YANG, ZONG-LIANG
NIYOGI, DEV
Syllabus (Fall 2024)
GEO 398T SUPERVISED TEACHING IN GEO SCI
TTH 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. BELL, CHRISTOPHER J
NIYOGI, DEV
Syllabus (Fall 2024)