• 2023-11-03 - PhD candidate Jinyu Wang recently published her first lead author paper in Science of the Total Environment! Jinyu’s study employs a new ‘lab-in-the-field’ technology which we refer to as the RiverLab. Essentially the concept is to circumvent the need to go out to a stream or river and collect a water sample, bring it back to the lab and then analyze its chemical composition. Instead, the...
  • 2023-09-12 - A new mammoth sculpture is rearing its head on the same ground where real mammoths wandered 30,000 years prior. That’s even older than the neighboring Natural History Building (NHB), built in 1892, from where the sculpture draws inspiration.
  • 2023-09-12 - Thanks to a generous donation from Michael (MS, ’02, Earth Science & Environmental Change) and Lalana Fortwengler, the Tom L. Phillips Memorial Fund for Paleobotany has supported graduate students and collection management for the University's world-class coal ball collection. Coal balls are the remains of 300 million year old plants from the midwest, when the last supercontinent,...
  • 2023-08-24 - We are looking for a new colleague in the field of Climate Science to join the Department of Earth Science and Environmental Change! If you'd like to join a vibrant and active department investigating a range of cutting edge research questions, please apply now! This hire is part of a...
  • 2023-06-16 - A new paper authored by geology professor Lijun Liu and geology graduate students Yaoyi Wang, Zebin Cao, Lihang Peng, Diandian Peng, along with dept. head Craig Lundstrom, challenges the conventional wisdom on the stability of the craton, the stable interior of North America. Their work suggests that the craton has experienced...
  • 2023-04-18 - Take a look at this news story on Mammoth Hot Springs featuring Earth Science and Environmental Change Professor Bruce Fouke! An expert on Mammoth Hot Springs, Prof. Fouke has spent years researching the interactions between Earth and life in Yellowstone National Park. You can check...
  • 2023-04-07 - Petroleum Experts has renewed a grant of a set of software packages to the Illinois State Geological Survey and Department of Geology to use in research and education. This software enhances the ISGS capabilities in subsurface interpretation and helps students pursue their undergraduate and graduate...
  • 2023-03-10 - We’ve got exciting news to share! The Department of Geology will now be known as the Department of Earth Science & Environmental Change!
  • 2023-02-07 - Keep a pulse on the department by checking out the 2021-2022 Newsletter! Don't miss the feature story on Prof. Willy Guenthner's research in the Grand Canyon and a look back on Prof. Altaner's 37 years at Illinois! Look at...
  • 2023-02-06 - PhD Candidate Jon Golla (working with Prof. Jennifer Druhan) was recently interviewed by the American Geophysical Union Hydrogeology Section! Check out his amazing research and learn why hydrogeology is so important to our understanding of the planet!
  • 2022-11-15 - Robby Goldman, PhD Candidate in the Department of Geology, recently received special recognition from the Graduate College for his outstanding leadership service during his time as a PhD student. “I am truly humbled to have received this recognition,” says Robby, “especially since community outreach and service have been an...
  • 2022-11-08 - What causes the 78% recurrence rate in patients treated with shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) for calcium oxalate (CaOx) kidney stones? Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) is the most commonly applied treatment for human kidney stones globally, yet 78% of patients experience a recurrence in painful stone growth. In order to find out why, Lauren Todorov’s 2022 M.Sc. thesis research applied...
  • 2022-10-31 - By Amber Rose, Grainger College of Engineering University of Illinois researchers Leonardo Chamorro and Jim Best used clear mud in order to study the structure of turbulence in water flows. You might be thinking, "mud isn’t clear!" If so, you would be wrong. Most work done by researchers in the Earth surface community has looked at the dynamics of water flows in the absence of...
  • 2022-08-22 - New Zealand’s Akaroa Volcano has been the focus of decades of research by geologists seeking to understand its eruptive history, which lasted 9-8 Ma. Some of Akaroa’s most intriguing features include a radial dike swarm and several lava domes exposed along the high-topography “crater rim” of the volcano’s eroded central summit region. Using a combination of field and petrographic observations, a...
  • 2022-07-15 - In a new paper published in Nature Communications, Gary Parker, Jim Best and Julia Cisneros (former PhD student) are part of a team that reports on how damming on the Huang He (Yellow) River, China, may increase the risk of flooding from moderate to large floods. The study, led by Hongbo Ma (UC Irvine) and Jeff Nittrouer (Texas Tech; former postdoc at Illinois) involved researchers from...