Schools combine for new earth science focus
Professor Sandy Cruden
The Faculty of Science will merge three disciplines from the Faculties of Science and Arts to form a new School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment next month.
From 1 July, the following schools will merge into one: the School of Geosciences (Faculty of Science), the Atmospheric Science group in the School of Mathematical Sciences, and the Physical Geography group in the School of Geography and Environmental Science (Faculty of Arts).
The incorporation of the schools is in response to an emerging demand for our talented teachers and researchers to collaborate more openly in earth sciences and to build a stimulating, information-rich environment for students, across the disciplines.
The Head of the new school, Professor Sandy Cruden, said the new school combined people who would look at all parts of the Earth from the core to the atmosphere.
“We can start working on the whole Earth system. I try not to get too overwhelmed by the scope – you have to take it one day at a time,” Professor Cruden said.
Bringing the three groups together provides an environment for rethinking the curriculum and exploring new opportunities, initially over the next five years, particularly in emerging fields of research and collaborations with external partners in Australia and internationally.
“The new school will have 22 teaching and research academics and we’re combining 30 research-only academics with 90 PhD students into one hothouse of opportunity,” Professor Cruden said.
“Early on we’ll discuss recruiting strategic academics to build cohesion amongst the new collaborators. Also, because we’re doubling in size, we’ll need to appoint new professional staff too.”
The move makes sense at a time when the University's reputation in environmental sciences is growing - with the geography discipline currently ranked number one within the Group of Eight research-intensive universities.
While undergraduates will benefit from a reinvigorated and relevant program, postgraduate opportunities are expected to grow as new collaborative connections are forged and emerging research areas present themselves.