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The Department of Earth System Science (ESS) studies the planet’s oceans, lands, and atmosphere as an integrated, dynamic system. Positioned at the core of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, ESS is dedicated to understanding the physical, chemical, and biological processes that shape our planet, with a particular emphasis on how these systems interact with human activities and ecosystems during the Anthropocene—the current era of unprecedented human influence on Earth.
The department’s 29 faculty, 4 emeritus faculty, and 9 affiliated faculty span a wide range of disciplines, including geology, biology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, and the atmospheric, ocean, and climate sciences. They conduct cutting-edge research to predict global environmental changes and design scientific frameworks for a sustainable future.
The academic pathways in ESS are designed for advanced research, quantitative training, and graduate-level scholarship:
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Earth System Science: A research-intensive doctoral program. Students work alongside faculty mentors to conduct original, publication-grade research spanning one or more earth systems.
Master of Science (M.S.) in Earth System Science: A graduate-level research degree. Note: The department does not offer coterminal admission to the Earth System Science M.S. program.
Undergraduate Collaboration: While ESS does not offer an undergraduate major, its faculty are central to teaching, advising, and directing the popular, interdisciplinary Earth Systems Program opens in a new tab, which offers B.S. and coterminal M.S. degrees.
ESS researchers work at the frontiers of earth system science, combining diverse methodologies to study earth systems from molecular scales to global networks.
Areas of focus include:
Earth, Atmosphere, and Ocean Dynamics: Investigating physical oceanography, atmospheric circulation, and the interactions between marine ecosystems and global climate systems.
Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Ecology: Tracking the cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and other crucial elements through soils, plants, water stores, the ocean, and the atmosphere to understand ecosystem feedback loops, and understanding how microbial life interacts with these cycles
Water Resources and Hydrology: Studying groundwater systems, river basins, soil moisture stores, and how these come together to affect global water quality, availability, and movement.
Food Security and Sustainable Land Use: Analyzing how climate stressors, land-use changes, and agricultural practices impact global food security, terrestrial carbon storage, and natural habitats.
Interactions between all of the above
To conduct this research, the department leverages a powerful array of tools, including satellite remote sensing, high-performance computer simulations, sophisticated laboratory analysis, and intensive field-based expeditions across all seven continents.
