Events | Geology and Environmental Science

All Events

Please access the Geology and Environmental Science university calendar to view our upcoming public events.

https://calendar.pitt.edu/department/department_of_geology_and_environmental_science

Departmental Events

The following events are intended for internal departmental personnel only:

GES Office Hours and Closures

Daily office hours: 8:30am - 4:30pm

Closed - 05/25/26 - Memorial Day
Closed - 06/19/26 - Juneteenth
Closed - 07/03/26 - Independence Day

Dissertation & Thesis Defenses

04/03/2026: 2:00pm in SRCC 306 - Sasha Reeder: REDOX STRATIFICATION AND MICROBIAL COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AS CO-CONTROLS ON LIPID BIOMARKER DISTRIBUTIONS IN EUXINIC MEROMICTIC LAKES

GES Spring Colloquia Schedule (2264)

Location: 104 Thaw | Time: 4:00pm

01/15/26 - Dr. Steve Meyers [Vilas Distinguished Professor, University of Wisconsin - Madison]: Astrochronology: Using Earth’s Astronomical Motions as a Geological Timekeeper and Planetary Decoder
01/22/26 - Dr. Anastasia Piliouras [Assistant Professor, Penn State University]: The role of Arctic deltas in controlling land-ocean fluxes
01/29/26 - Dr. Joana Voigt [JPL Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA]: Volcanic Terrains as Records of Lava Emplacement and Aqueous Modification on Earth and Mars
02/05/26 - Dr. Katherine French [Research Chemist, USGS]: Integrating inorganic and organic geochemistry to elucidate the occurrence of euxinia and organic sulfurization in the geologic record
02/12/26 - Dr. Lizzy Trower [Associate Professor, University of Colorado - Boulder]: Neoproterozoic giant ooids as novel proxies for seawater chemistry and climate
02/19/26 - Dr. Jeff Catalano [Professor, Washington University in St. Louis]: Critical Links between Trace Element Biogeochemistry and Climate, Resources, and Public Health
02/26/26 - Dr. Brooke Hunter [Assistant Professor, Appalachian State University]: Geomorphic controls on chemical weathering and organic carbon cycling within the Critical Zone
03/05/26 - Dr. Kathleen Weathers [Ecosystem Scientist, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies]: Ecological Puzzles and a Passion for Lakes: How Cyanobacteria, Community members, Sensors, and Cyberinfrastructure Launched a 21st Century Experiment
03/12/26 - No colloquium - Spring Break
03/19/26 - Dr. Alex Tye [Research Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh]: Miocene extension of the hinterland Antofalla Basin, southern central Andes: Relationship to lithospheric foundering
03/26/26 - Dr. Claire Griffin [Assistant Professor, Allegheny College]: Capillaries of the Arctic landscape: Connecting hydrology and carbon fluxes from ice-wedge polygon networks to rivers in the Jago River, Alaska
04/02/26 - Dr. Daniel Breecker [Professor, University of Texas - Austin]: Westerly Jet-induced Pliocene rainfall seasonality mediated east Asian C4 expansion
04/09/26 - Dr. Kelsey Moore [NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University]: Insights into the coevolution of early life and planets from silica-hosted biosignatures
04/16/26 - Abiodun Ayo-Bali [PhD Candidate, University of Pittsburgh]: Road salt interactions with mudstones and implications for hillslope stability
04/23/26 - Dr. Kyle Frederick [Associate Professor, Pennsylvania Western University]: Profile of a Stream Out of Balance: A Case Study of the Rock River, Dodge County, WI

GES Fall Colloquia Schedule (2261)

Location: 104 Thaw | Time: 4:00pm

08/28/25 - Colloquia Kick Off: Short History of Several Million Years of Pittsburgh
09/04/25 - Pitt EH&S Chemical Hygiene Training
09/11/25 - Dr. Souya Fan [Research Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh]: Along-strike variation in Alaska forearc deformation: From shortening to extension
09/18/25 - Hailey Sinon [PhD Candidate, University of Pittsburgh]: 45-Thousand-Years of Arctic Alaskan Permafrost Carbon Cycling as Told by Lake Sediment
09/25/24 - Dr. April Abbott [Assistant Professor, Coastal Carolina University]: Impact of Marine Authigenic Clay Formation on Oceanic Trace Element Budgets
10/02/25 - Distinguished Alumna: Dr. Emily Mercurio [Co-founder and CEO at CivicMapper]: GIS for Geoscientists
10/09/25 - Dr. Margaret Hinkle [Assistant Professor, Washington and Lee University]: Remediating coal mine drainage: With a little help from my (myco)friends
10/16/25 - Dr. Matthew Lamanns [Mary R. Dawson Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural Science]: The mysterious megaraptorids: giant-clawed meat-eating dinosaurs from the southern continents
10/23/25 - Dr. Andrea Fetters [Postdoc, University of Pittsburgh]: Understanding plant-insect-microbe interactions in a recovering ecosystem
10/30/25 - Dr. Katherine Grant [Staff Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratorys]: Organic carbon preservation across scales: how rock derived organic carbon influences the modern carbon cycle
11/06/25 - Punwath Prum [PhD Candidate, University of Pittsburgh]: Monitoring Global Changes in Estuarine Water Quality with Landsat Satellites
11/13/25 - Dr. Peter Fawcett [Associate Dean for Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Professor, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico]: A 1.5 million-year long record of climate, ecosystem, and dust changes in SW United States from Stoneman Lake, AZ
11/20/25 - Dr. Pratirupa Bardhan [Research Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh]: Nitrous oxide isotopes in the Baltic Sea
11/27/25 - No Colloquium - Thanksgiving Break
12/04/25 - Dr. Gaia Stucky de Quay [Assistant Professor, MIT]: The Early Mars Climate: constraints from fluvio-lacustrine morphologies
12/11/25 - Dr. Marissa Manheim [Assistant Professor, University at Buffalo]: Embodied Rationality and the Governance of Humanature Interconnections

Other Events

The following events sponsored by organizations outside of the department may be of interest:

Conferences

April 8 - April 10: 2026 Pittsburgh Environmental Summit

The 2026 Environmental Summit — From Knowledge to Action: Implementing Science, Justice, and Healing — moves beyond documenting environmental harm toward implementation, bridging science and on-the-ground reality so that justice and healing become lived experiences across our region. Convening in the Hill District, Hazelwood, and Homewood, the summit is rooted in communities where implementation matters most, centering our three pillars: Science, Justice, and Healing.

This summit is a collaborative effort by the Cancer and Environment Network of Southwestern Pennsylvania (CENSWPA) and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Public Health Practice.

More information on the summit can be found in the following flyer: 2026 Pittsburgh Environmental Summit.

To register to attend, please see the 2026 Pittsburgh Environmental Summit registration page.

May 26, 28, & June 2, 4: 2026 NSF NGF Community Science Conference

The NSF NGF Community Science Conference will take place virtually over four days: May 26 & 28, and June 2 & 4. We’re building a schedule that makes it easy for you to participate, taking advantage of a virtual format to spread sessions out. A detailed agenda will be available when registration opens this spring.

This conference focuses on recent advances in geophysics through innovations in instrumentation, computation, and methodology. It will provide an introduction to new capabilities within the NSF National Geophysical Facility (NGF), with a focus on how these developments can benefit the seismic, geodetic and near-surface geophysics communities and strengthen collaborations across disciplines. Participants will have an opportunity to share and learn about state-of-the-art research, interact with community members, and build new collaborations.

For more information, please see the 2026 conference webpage.

September 28 - October 1: TIGER Symposium in Geodesy

The TIGER Symposium in Geodesy is the official symposium of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) Commission 3 on Earth rotation and geodynamics. TIGER stands for Tracking and Investigating Geodynamics and Earth Rotation. The 2026 edition will mark the very first meeting of IAG Commission 3 – September 28th to October 1st, 2026.

Commission 3 studies the entire range of physical processes associated with the movement and deformation of the Earth in response to both external and internal forces. In addition to the core focus of Commission 3, the TIGER Symposium will also highlight themes traditionally addressed at the Journées meetings. The TIGER Symposium in Geodesy is also supported by the International Earth Rotation & Reference System Service (IERS), a service of IAG contributing to global reference systems and Earth orientation science.

To foster collaboration across disciplines, IAG Commission 3 works closely with several other IUGG associations – International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI), International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS), and International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (IASPEI) – through a number of joint sub-commissions, making the TIGER Symposium a place where different geoscientific communities can come together and share and discuss their work.

The 2026 TIGER Symposium will be held in Gävle, Sweden.

Abstract submission is now open. If you are interested in submitting an abstract, please apply on the Symposium website by April 15th, 2026.

Workshops & Seminars

Climate & Global Change Center Workshop

Join the Climate & Global Change Center for a workshop: Bridging perspectives between enhanced rock weathering and critical zone science

Monday, April 27, 2026 at 10:15 am–5:00 pm ET
University of Pittsburgh - Thaw 104
Audience: Undergraduate and graduate students, early career scientists, post-docs, and faculty.
Click here for a complete list of speakers & abstracts.
Register here: Registration Link TBD

Geoscience Career Panel Webinar

Join the EarthScope-operated NSF National Geophysical Facility and CRESCENT for a dynamic Geoscience Career Panel showcasing diverse career paths across academia, industry, government, nonprofit, consulting, and beyond. If you're actively exploring your next steps or just seeking inspiration, this is your chance to hear real stories from professionals who’ve carved out impactful careers with their geoscience backgrounds.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 11:00 am–12:30 pm MT
Virtual—Zoom link provided upon registration. Session will be recorded.
Audience: Undergraduate and graduate students, early career scientists, and geoscience enthusiasts.

Check out the event's webpage to learn more about the panelists and to register!

Carnegie Museum of Natural History: R.W. Moriarty Science Seminars

Learn about scientific discoveries directly from the experts in the field during free, hour-long public talks. Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s scientific research staff and invited speakers discuss their latest findings on numerous scientific topics at the R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar series, ongoing since 2010.

To view the full spring 2026 schedule and register to attend, please see the R.W. Moriarty Science Seminars homepage.

Upcoming topics include:

April 9th: Testing the “Sixth Sense” of Anuran Amphibians
May 7th: Lightning Talks from Carnegie Museum Scientists

EarthScope Webinars

You are invited to attend the EarthScope Consortium's webinar series! For information on the webinars scheduled for Spring 2026, please see the EarthScope Consortium's Event Calendar.

Service Opportunities

NextGen Advisory Council

The NextGen Advisory Council was created by DCNR to offer fresh perspectives on public lands, outdoor recreation, and conservation initiatives in Pennsylvania.

Its mission is to:

Make outdoor spaces welcoming for all
Advocate for inclusive and accessible programs
Build and retain a diverse workforce in conservation

By bringing together high school students to young professionals (up to age 35), the council ensures that younger voices play a role in shaping the future of Pennsylvania’s natural resources. The council typically has 20 young, diverse members from across Pennsylvania. No prior experience in conservation or government is needed. A desire to contribute and work toward inclusive conservation and recreation is key.

Expectations include:

Attending quarterly meetings on the third Tuesday of January, April, July, and October. These meetings are virtual, featuring talks from department staff and discussions on projects.
Joining optional evening meetings for committees and special projects.
Committing to an initial three-year term, with the option to extend.

If you have questions about the council or how to apply, please contact the department.

Go to the NextGen Advisory Council website for more information and the application. Applications to serve on the NextGen Advisory Council are generally accepted in July.

Miscellaneous

Pitt Business Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program

Pitt Business supports the annual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, helping low- and moderate-income taxpayers in the Pittsburgh area prepare and file their taxes.

Qualified taxpayers include those with incomes under $65,000 per year. University students and employees are encouraged to schedule an appointment from February 2 through April 15 by calling 2-1-1 or visiting https://southwest.pa211.org/.