Earth Systems
School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences
Independently investigate complex environmental problems caused by human activities in interaction with natural changes in the Earth system.
What You'll Study
The Earth Systems Program is an interdisciplinary environmental science major. Students learn about and independently investigate complex environmental problems caused by human activities in interaction with natural changes in the Earth system. Earth Systems majors become skilled in those areas of science, economics, and policy needed to tackle the globe's most pressing environmental problems, becoming part of a generation of scientists, professionals, and citizens who approach and solve problems in a systematic, interdisciplinary way.
For students to be effective contributors to solutions for such problems, their training and understanding must be both broad and deep. To this end, Earth Systems students take courses in the fundamentals of biology, calculus, chemistry, geology, and physics, as well as economics, policy, and statistics. After completing breadth training, they concentrate on advanced work in one of six focus areas: biosphere, energy, environmental economics and policy, land systems, sustainable food and agriculture, or oceanography. Earth Systems students also complete a 9-unit (270-hour) internship. The internship provides a hands-on academic experience working on a supervised field, laboratory, government, or private sector project.
More Information
Learn more about Earth Systems in the Stanford Bulletin
- Earth Systems Program
- School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences
- Explore IntroSems related to this major
Exploratory Courses
EARTHSYS 10
EARTHSYS 104
The Water Course (EARTHSYS 204, GEOPHYS 104, GEOPHYS 204)
EARTHSYS 105A
Ecology and Natural History of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve (BIO 105A)
EARTHSYS 105B
Ecology and Natural History of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve (BIO 105B)
EARTHSYS 125
EARTHSYS 144
Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science (GIS) (ESS 164)
EARTHSYS 155
EARTHSYS 160
Sustainable Cities (URBANST 164)
EARTHSYS 185
EARTHSYS 41N
EARTHSYS 46N
Exploring the Critical Interface between the Land and Monterey Bay: Elkhorn Slough (ESS 46N)