Research Overview - University of Houston
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Research Overview

Our broad and cross-disciplinary departmental expertise engages major questions in the following areas:


Energy & Earth Resources

Located in Houston, Texas, the center of the world's petroleum industry, EAS faculty are involved in a wide range of energy and resource-related research – from exploration to effective stewardship of limited resources.

Major questions to which our faculty are pursuing answers:

  • How have Earth’s dynamics influenced the distribution of important Earth resources?
  • What imaging and dating techniques can lead to better global correlations between stratigraphic sections?
  • How can better optimization of geophysical imaging enhance recovery of energy resources?
  • How can new technology be applied to the exploration for Earth resources?

EAS faculty members are dedicated to discovering new ways to provide energy and Earth resources to a growing and changing world.

Faculty active in this expertise area include: Castagna, ChesnokovFu, Khan, Lapen, Mann, Murphy, Stewart, Sun, Wellner, Wu, Zheng, and Zhou

Earth & Planetary Dynamics

The EAS faculty engages in cross-disciplinary research to understand complexly integrated Earth and planetary systems – from planetary cores to atmospheres.

Major questions being pursued include:

  • What nebular building blocks formed planetary materials?
  • What can the Moon and Mars tell us about early Earth?
  • How do planetary atmospheres help us to understand Earth’s past and future?
  • What are the interactions between climate and topographic changes?
  • How does solid-Earth tomography inform tectonic plate reconstructions?

The EAS faculty is driven to address these fundamental questions and have world-class expertise and tools to do so.

Faculty active in this expertise area include: Copeland, Fu, Jiang, Khan, Lapen, Li, Mann, Murphy, Robinson, Sager, Sun, Suppe, G. Wang, Wu, Zheng, and Zhou

Atmospheric & Earth Surface Systems

Faculty in EAS are engaged in fundamental research projects aimed at understanding the portion of the Earth that hosts life and the environment – from changing landscapes and climate to air pollution.

Questions being pursued by EAS faculty include:

  • How is urban air pollution distributed around the world?
  • What is the source of key industrial emissions and how do they impact air or water?
  • How have ice sheets evolved over time and what is the effect on global sea level?
  • What drives ground subsidence and how can it be managed in inhabited areas?
  • How are coastlines responding to sea-level rise?
  • How is climate change tied to evolutionary patterns?

EAS faculty are working around the globe to provide answers to these and other questions about how Earth’s surface and air have changed – and continue to do so.

Faculty active in this expertise area include: Beverly, Capuano, CarlsonChoiJiang, Khan, Maddocks, Rappenglueck, SagerG. Wang, Y. Wang, VoarintsoaWellner and Zhang