Who we are
Addressing global challenges – climate change, environmental hazards, the transition to green energy, and the need for sustainable resources – requires a deep understanding of how our planet works. Earth Sciences combines scientific thinking from across the natural sciences to develop understanding of our planet and support a more sustainable future.
Cambridge Earth Sciences
Cambridge is home to one of the world’s longest‑established Earth Sciences departments, yet our outlook is anything but traditional. Our researchers work across disciplines, sectors, and borders to produce high‑impact science with real‑world relevance.
Ranked first in the UK in the most recent Research Excellence Framework for the quality of our discovery‑led science, we address critical global challenges including future energy systems, climate dynamics, sustainable resource development, and environmental risk. Our expertise spans geology, geophysics, geochemistry, mathematics, and related fields, creating a uniquely integrative and collaborative research community that fosters creative thinking and rigorous scientific enquiry.
We recognise that many of the most insightful discoveries arise from asking questions at the boundaries between traditional disciplines, and this perspective shapes both our research and our teaching.
Our teaching
- Undergraduate: Our Earth Sciences degree is unique in being taught through the Natural Sciences Tripos, allowing students to study complementary physical and biological subjects. This interdisciplinary training sets our graduates up with the skills to understand Earth and its interconnected challenges.
- Postgraduate: Join Cambridge Earth Sciences for a PhD or Masters course, focussing on one research area, or through cross-cutting programmes such as Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science and Planetary Science and Life in the Universe.
Our Research
We actively welcome collaboration and currently host projects across the University and with partners nationally and internationally, spanning both academia and industry. Our research explores the full breadth of Earth, environmental, and planetary sciences using cross-disciplinary thinking and the latest scientific techniques. Examples of topics we work on include:
- Sustainable resources, including critical minerals
- Future energy solutions, including geothermal and nuclear
- Carbon capture and storage
- Methane emissions from wetlands
- Environmental change, such as coral reef responses to climate change
- Global carbon cycling
- Natural hazards, such as volcanic pollution and extreme events
Explore our research in more detail on our Research Themes pages.
Department Life
- The Sedgwick Museum We’re proud to be one of the few Earth Science departments with an affiliated museum, The Sedgwick, which houses over 2 million rocks, minerals, and fossils. The Sedgwick Museum sits at the heart of our welcoming community, hosting events for students, including LGBTea gatherings that celebrate and connect the Department’s Queer Community.
- Our Student Society The Sedgwick Club—the oldest student-run geological society in the world – brings students together for talks, socials, and a shared love of Earth Sciences.
- Talks and Seminars Our department hosts a range of seminars, talks and conferences involving speakers from across the University, nationally and internationally. See upcoming events on Talks.cam.