Dear Physics Majors,
Geophysics?
Did you know that most geophysicists and planetary scientists have bachelor’s degrees in Physics? Do you find yourself excited about classical mechanics, thermodynamics and electromagnetism, but not so excited about high energy or particle physics? Are
you curious about the forces that actually move tectonic plates, how planets form and evolve, how earthquakes occur, or what controls volcanic activity on our planet? Yes! Then you should consider graduate school in geophysics.
Jobs?
Our students go on to work in both academic and non-academic jobs using their strong analytic, quantitative and computational skills to work on a broad range of problems from hydrological consulting to assessing earthquake hazards for the US Geological Survey.
Research Topics?
The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences invites you to learn more about our geophysics program. We are the only department in the US with three faculty specializing geodynamics, working on everything from deep earthquakes, evolution of the Earth’s mantle, eruption of mud volcanos, and earthquake forecasting. We host the National Science Foundation’s Initiative for Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics. And, planetary scientist, Dr. Sarah Stewart was just awarded the MacArthur ‘Genius’ award for her new theory for the earth-moon forming impact.
Graduate School?
Learn more about :
** The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences https://geology.
** Geophysics Research program https://geology.
** Masters and PhD program https://geology.
You can also e-mail me – I was a physics major at a small liberal arts college before I decided that earthquake physics was more my interest than quantum mechanics. When I started graduate school, I had not yet taken a geology class, but I realize that I wanted to apply the methods from physics to problems in earth and planetary dynamics. The true complexity of the Earth system has kept me hooked ever since!
Sincerely,
Magali Billen
BS Physics, 1995 University of Puget Sound
MS/PhD Geophysics 2001 California Institute of Technology
Professor of Geophysics
Earth & Planetary Sciences Dept., UC Davis
Davis, CA 95616
2129 Earth & Physical Sciences Bldg.
Office Phone: (530) 752-4169
http://magalibillen.faculty.
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