WACO, Texas (July 31, 2020) – Texas researchers from the University of Houston, Baylor University and Texas A&M University have discovered evidence for why the earth cooled dramatically 13,000 years ago, dropping temperatures by about 3 degrees Centigrade.

Kenny Befus, assistant professor of geosciences, is one of four Baylor faculty members to earn CAREER awards from the National Science Foundation this spring. Learn more about his research studying strains in minerals and gemstones as a record of geological forces.

WACO, Texas (June 25, 2020) – Baylor University’s drive toward Research 1 (R1) status received a major boost this spring as four faculty members earned prestigious CAREER development awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grants represent the largest number of CAREER awards earned by Baylor faculty in a single semester and nearly doubled the University’s total number of active CAREER awards to nine.

Baylor professors offer warning as climate change has potential to dry world’s largest tropical lake more quickly than anticipated.

WACO, Texas (May 29, 2020) – As private rocket company SpaceX readies for the scheduled launch to the International Space Station on Saturday or Sunday — the first space crew launch from America in nearly a decade — Baylor University planetary geophysicist Peter James, Ph.D., says that private companies not only have lowered the cost of space exploration but also may speed it along.

Another academic year has come to an end. However strange it was, some things are still familiar: Final grades have been posted, books are being returned, students have graduated — and Baylor’s professors of the year have been awarded! The Collins Outstanding Professor Award, which is voted on by the outgoing senior class, awards the …

WACO, Texas (May 19, 2020) – A Russian paleontologist visiting the Natural History Museum in London desperately wanted a good look at the skeleton of an extinct aquatic reptile, but its glass case was too far up the wall. So he attached his digital camera to a fishing rod and — with several clicks — snagged a big one, scientifically speaking.

Have you ever wanted to learn more about geology, paleontology, geography, natural hazards, and the world around you? Now is your chance!

WACO, Texas (March 24, 2020) – Three new species of toothed pterosaurs — flying reptiles of the Cretaceous period, some 100 million years ago — have been identified in Africa by an international team of scientists led by Baylor University.

The Department of Geosciences at Baylor University invites applications for full-time PhD and MS students. Teaching and research assistantships available.

WACO, Texas (Sept. 17, 2019) – Steven L. Forman, Ph.D., professor of geosciences and director of the Geoluminescence Dating Research Laboratory at Baylor University, will receive the international Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research from the Geological Society of America, becoming only the 21st scientist to receive the award. The GSA will present Forman with the award during the organization’s meeting Sept. 23 in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Baylor University Department of Geosciences seeks a dynamic scholar in hydrology and surface processes beginning August 2020.

Congratulations to Wynne Casteel and Will Brewer who were awarded scholarships from Groundwater Foundation through the Len Assante Scholarship Program.

WACO, Texas (July 17, 2019) — Fifty years ago, America loved its astronauts to the Moon and back. And this week, as the country marks the historic liftoff and landing, a Baylor University planetary geophysicist is over the Moon about researching a new space frontier.

The Geosciences Department extends thoughts a prayers to the family and friends of Benjamin R. Man who passed away on May 23rd.

The Geosciences Department is sad to announce the passing of alumni, Duncan Brooks on June 12th. Our thoughts and prayers are with Duncan's family and friends during this difficult time.

The massive find promises to help scientists better understand how all rocky bodies—including our own planet—came to be.

Discovery may contain metal from asteroid crash, Baylor University researcher says.

On May 1, I had the privilege of helping recognize our 2019 Outstanding Graduate Students. Six students received Outstanding Graduate Instructor Awards and three students received Outstanding Dissertation Awards. I asked each of the students to speak about their graduate journey as well as a faculty member (either graduate program director or faculty mentor) to speak about the research and teaching success of each student.

Congratulations to Department of Geosciences PhD graduate Dr. Logan Wiest! He won the won the 2019 Baylor Graduate School Outstanding Dissertation Award in the Sciences for his dissertation “Taphonomic and Mass-Extinction Research from an Ichnological Perspective.

Millions of years before anyone lived here, nature conditioned Waco as a major crossroads. Dr. Joe Yelderman of Baylor’s Department of Geosciences tells us how geology and natural history played a role in shaping Waco.

We have two big TEAM accomplishments to report for our graduate and undergraduate programs.

Congratulations to Baylor University Department of Geosciences PhD student Dylan Jiang!

The Baylor Geosciences Department is sad to report the passing of alumnus Bradley Ray (BS, 1979) on October 10th.