Earth and Planetary Environmental Science

Broadly considers the environment and elucidates various phenomena that occur on the Earth and other planets, from their cores to surfaces including atmosphere. In order to understand their past and present and predict the future, we use a variety of methods including field surveys and laboratory experiments.

【Academic features】

In Pursuit of Humanity’s Dreams, Safety, and Security

The Department of Earth and Planetary Environmental Science is a future-oriented discipline that uses field research and geological, chemical and biological approaches to elucidate the birth and the history of evolution of the Earth, planets, and life on Earth, and tackle our current environmental and resource problems. The appeal of this area of study is that it tackles issues that embody the dreams of humanity and issues that contribute to humanity’s sustainable development – in short, its safety and security. Our subject matter extends spatially from the atomic level to the entire solar system, and chronologically from 4.6 billion years ago to the future.

Faculty and Students Combine to Tackle Problems

Our faculty members work in a wide variety of fields, including the formation of nature as revealed by geological and topographical surveys, the understanding of the solar system through meteorite analysis and planetary exploration, the mysteries of the birth and evolution of life, past climate changes such as that exemplified by Snowball Earth, and the elucidation of the mechanisms of environmental problems and resource formation.

Face-to-face Education from Basics to Applied Science

Our students learn the basics of Earth and Planetary Environmental Science through field research in Japan and overseas, practical training in techniques such as chemical analysis, genetic analysis, and numerical simulations, and through graduation research in which they work independently on topics of their own choosing. This enables our students to harness various perspectives to approach the study of the Earth as an integrated system comprising the atmosphere, oceans, solids, and life. As a relatively small department, one of its major attractions is that faculty and students can participate in their education and research in small-group settings.

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