The Department of Earth Sciences was founded at Brock University in 1968, three years after the University was formed. The department now has 10 faculty members with a wide variety of research and teaching interests.

Our Research

Our research specialties include clastic sedimentology, structural geology, micromorphology, micropaleontology and paleoecology, terrestrial and marine palynology, Quaternary paleoecology, environmental geology, carbonate geochemistry, metamorphic and igneous petrology, volcanology, geochemistry and glacial geology/geomorphology.

Our Programs

The Department offers a traditional undergraduate geology program and a program in environmental geoscience. Also offered is a MSc program that includes a broad area of “crustal studies” and Quaternary geology. Note that Crustal studies includes any aspect of earth science that deals with the crust (including paleontology, sedimentology, etc.).

Our Alumni

Graduates of programs in the Department of Earth Sciences work in varied career paths including in environmental assessment/consulting, mineral and resources exploration, mining geology, groundwater monitoring, geological consultancy for construction, geological and planetary research, and many others. Some of our alumni have shared their stories with us and you can read them here.

Crawford Lake

Brock University Professors of Earth Sciences Francine McCarthy and Martin Head, along with Geography and Tourism Studies Professor Michael Pisaric, are involved in international efforts to define the Anthropocene formally as a new epoch in geologic time, in recognition of a major shift in Earth’s response to overwhelming human impacts in the mid-20th century.

Note: The department of Earth Sciences Instagram account changed recently. You can follow us now at: brockuersc