The Earth and Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) consists of five departments. EESA staff are aligned according to their professional and scientific expertise to these departments, which also serves as their administrative home (Department Heads are responsible for line management activities associated with safety, staffing, promotions, performance evaluations, and employee development and training). In the crosscutting nature of the research and disciplines in the EESA, Department staff are likely to support more than one research Program, but are typically assigned to only one Division. Click on a department name below to learn more about the staff and our organization.
Departments
Hydrogeology
The Hydrogeology Department has expertise in theoretical, experimental, field, and modeling approaches in a variety of research areas, among which are advanced process modeling, reservoir engineering, vadose-zone and fracture hydrology, contaminant hydrology, and coupled nonisothermal, geochemical, and geomechanical processes.
Geophysics
The Geophysics Department is organized into five scientific core capabilities. The primary purpose of these research areas is to advance the science that will enable new high-resolution methods for extracting subsurface properties and process-related information from geophysical, geomechanical, fluid-flow, and satellite data.
Geochemistry
The Geochemistry Department has expertise in isotopic geochemistry, reactive transport, molecular and nanogeochemistry, high temperature geochemistry, biogeochemical cycling, and water quality.
Ecology
The Ecology Department's scientists and engineers provides biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, and environmental engineering support within EESA and other research areas at Berkeley Lab and has access to unique facilities and has developed technologies that offer solutions in environment, energy, and health.
Climate Sciences
The Climate Sciences Department’s research capabilities lie in three areas: (1) modeling climate change and climate change solutions; (2) simulating clouds, rain, and the water cycle; (3) measuring and modeling the terrestrial carbon cycle.