Earth and Ocean Sciences

Why choose UVic? Applying to UVic Graduate studies
Student standing on rocks near the ocean writing in a notepad

Our classroom is the great outdoors

Experience hands-on learning in the field. From lab classes identifying rocks at the beach to field schools studying the geology of the Cordilleran Mountains, the great outdoors will be your classroom.

Undergraduate studies
A large group of students standing on rocks outside listening to a professor

An unparalleled location

Our graduate students benefit from expert faculty, a world-class research community, and a wide variety of geologic, tectonic and oceanographic settings right outside our doors.

Graduate studies
Students around a green learning table

Study what you're passionate about

Interested in the earth, oceans and atmosphere? Curious about geohazards or climate change? On the south end of Vancouver Island, UVic is perfectly situated for offering a complete education in Earth System Science.

Courses
Alumna Tess Zyla looking at a rock through an eyepiece outside

Careers in earth and ocean sciences

Learn how to think scientifically, conduct research, work in labs and in the field. Alumna Tess Zyla works as an exploration geoscientist where she interprets 3D seismic data to image the subsurface.

Career possibilities

>>> Information for Undergraduate students, Spring 2021.

Learning in the field

Do you want to understand our planet? Engage in challenging studies that will take you outside the classroom on field trips, field schools and marine cruises?

Learn about the processes that shape the Earth, global climate change, earthquake hazards, groundwater contamination, marine pollution and more.

We acknowledge with respect the Lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

Find your edge in UVic’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences