Australian National University

Bachelor of Science (Earth Science)

With a myriad of disciplines offered, craft a science degree that is uniquely yours with the ANU Bachelor of Science. You’ll have the opportunity to experiment in our state-of-the-art laboratories while being mentored by leading scientists. You’ll have the flexibility to go on fieldtrips, take your studies overseas, or try an internship. Wherever your passion lies, you’ll be able to explore your interests and follow your passions with our most flexible science degree.

Earth Science Major
Understanding how our planet works has been a human ambition for many centuries. Earth Science deals with complex systems and brings together aspects of chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology to understand the processes that shape our planet. Earth Science is central to many pressing issues of our time such as the supply of resources including energy and water, climate change and natural hazards.

The major in Earth Science will examine the origin of Earth from its beginning as one of several planets orbiting the sun to the evolution through time of rocks, the oceans and the atmosphere and how this made life on Earth possible. In the past 50 years, we have come to appreciate the global mobility of plates encapsulated in the paradigm of plate tectonics. Interactions between plates generate earthquakes, mountain belts and volcanos. In addition to understanding the fundamental mechanisms driving these global forces, Earth Scientists are engaged in understanding the origins of global resources. An increasingly important aspect of Earth Science is the understanding of past and present climate systems through integrated studies of the interactions between the lithosphere, oceans, atmosphere and biosphere.