UCLA - Earth and Space Sciences

News and Events

Congratulations to Rachel Smith, who has received a Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award for her poster presentation at the 2009 Summer meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Her paper, "Observations of Unusually High 12C/13C Fractionation in Protostars Using VLT-CRIRES", was co-authored with Klaus M. Pontoppidan, Greg J. Herczeg, and Edward C. Young. Way to go Rachel!

UCLA Newsroom: Professor leads NASA mission's effort to map moon's surface temperatures
When NASA launches the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a yearlong unmanned mission to comprehensively map the entire moon, later this month, UCLA's David Paige will be leading its Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, which will perform the first global survey of the temperature of the lunar surface as the spacecraft orbits some 31 miles above the moon. (more...)

Congratulations to Jerry Schubert, who has been elected a Foreign Member of the Academia Europaea. The academy comprises top European scientists and scholars. It is a distinct honor, and ESS is proud to claim Jerry as its second Foreign Member (along with Vladimir Keilis- Borok).

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Individuals interested in Graduate and Undergraduate programs should start at the Admission section.

Graduate Opportunities in Earth and Space Sciences.

The extraordinary breadth of the Department reflects the interdisciplinary approaches required to understand complex systems like the Earth and the planets. Our faculty tackle a wide range of problems, from the Sun to the most distant planets, and from the center of the Earth to the tenuous ionized gases of the solar wind. We probe the interior of the Earth using seismic data, laboratory measurements, and computer modeling. We study both the ancient tectonics of the Earth and its ongoing activity. We explore Earth's upper atmosphere using spacecraft to measure magnetic fields and plasmas. Moving outward from Earth, we study other planets, their interiors, surfaces, atmospheres, and particle and field environments. No object in the solar system-not asteroids nor ions in the solar wind-are small enough to escape our attention. A central theme of the Department's researchers is to understand the origin and evolution of the solar system, the planets, Earth itself, and life on Earth. Read On...

This year's ESS Commencement Celebration will take place on Young Hall Patio (between Young Hall and the Geology Building) on Saturday, June 13th, from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm. The celebration features a catered buffet lunch, introduction of Graduate Degree and Baccalaureate Degree Candidates, a Valedictory Speech, presentation of Departmental Scholarships and Awards, and a group photo (please keep your cap & gown from the Friday evening College of Letters & Science Graduation or Graduate Division Doctoral Hooding ceremonies for the photo). All graduating students and awardees may attend the luncheon free of charge, and all family and friends are welcome to attend for the fee of $20 per person.