The organizing principle of all our undergraduate programs is earth-system science, which not only embraces the full range of competencies within the Department, but also provides an excellent base for environmental studies. The earth-system is the natural starting point for basic environmental research and since most human impacts on the environment involve changes to the solid, liquid, or gaseous earth, mitigation begins with interventions that affect the physical environment. Working from this base the Department plans to achieve the following objectives:

• Offer high quality academic programs
• Expand the graduate programs
• Sustain funded research
• Deepen our involvement with the Inter-Campus Graduate School of Marine Science Program (IGS)
• Increase local industry/community involvement

Each of these objectives supports University, campus, and College goals. They form an interlocking set of actions that strengthen our research base, improve the reputation of our academic programs, and raise the Department’s profile within the community.