Strategic Plan

The Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) was established in the School of Science (now known as the College of Science) in 1967. From its inception, the department has been extremely active in conducting disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, fostering engagement and outreach programs, and developing undergraduate and graduate programs that inspire students and prepare them to meet the needs of our changing world. Our faculty and staff provide expertise in diverse areas, including Tectonics, Geophysics, Historical Geology, Atmospheric Dynamics and Chemistry, Environmental Geosciences, Biogeochemistry, Climate Change, Geoscience Education, Planetary Sciences, and many other areas. EAS has a uniquely qualified faculty and is well positioned to lead discovery and learning in the earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences.

In implementing our 2003-2008 strategic plan, planned faculty growth and a substantial increase in joint appointments focused EAS research in several key strategic areas that addressed grand challenge problems; our work has had high visibility and impact. As a result, our level of external funding for research and education programs has more than doubled. Our students are highly valued by employers, and our alumni are making significant contributions in business, industry, education, state and federal agencies, academia, politics, and the space program. We are excited at the continued increase in impact and quality of EAS, but recognize additional and emerging opportunities to improve and change.

Following the success of our previous strategic plan, in 2009 we used a faculty retreat and the efforts of a set of working groups to develop a new strategic plan for EAS. This process highlighted areas of change and improvement that are critical to meet the goals and aspirations of our students, faculty, staff and alumni. The resulting strategic plan outlines the goals and actions we will pursue over the next 5 years to build upon our successes and develop and evaluate new initiatives in discovery, learning, and engagement. Our plans dovetail with the key themes of the strategic plans of the College of Science and the University, ensuring that we will contribute to the larger goals of the institution. Implementing this plan in a challenging fiscal environment will involve considerable creativity, flexibility, and above all the coordinated efforts of all members of the EAS community: students, staff, faculty, alumni, employers and friends. Our goals are ambitious, but we have shown in the past that we are capable of amazing change and achievement.