Data science is the main driver for innovation in the coming years. In geosciences, there has been an explosion of data collected from various sources. Sensors, satellites and computer simulations offer the opportunity to explore our planet in unprecedented detail. Smart agriculture, virtual remote sensing labs and early warning systems for natural hazards are just few examples of the growing number of environmental applications that capitalize on our data wealth.
Working shoulder to shoulder with our faculty you will
- explore the Earth system in a virtual travel across space and time, starting from the early days of our planet and peeking into a future full of uncertainties
- learn how the natural world works and how our actions affect it in scales ranging from nano to global
- enhance your abilities in problem-solving, collaborative design, project management and creative thinking
- master the skills to analyze large volumes of data and discover patterns that help us anticipate current and future environmental challenges
The department’s intellectual focus is discovery in a pursuit to understand the world and improve the infrastructures that are crucial to sustainably support our civilization. Emphasizing the use of quantitative approaches, BEDS features multiple vibrant poles of research activity focusing in hydroclimatic variability, geospatial patterns and ecological diversity. Our scientific studies tackle global challenges, pursue fundamental questions, and challenge the status quo. We develop and apply pioneering approaches that range from basic scientific principles to complex engineering design, aiming on four strategic challenge areas:
- Hydrology: studying the movement, availability, and quality of water and their extremes in a changing climate.
- Ecology: fundamental understanding of life processes and their interactions in various environments.
- Programming: developing all the vital digital structures for efficient manipulation, storage and handling of big data objects.
Educating our students is our core mission. They come ready to learn, combining their natural curiosity with analytical precision and using their playful imagination to analyze both local and world-wide problems. CZU students are world-travelers, researchers, athletes, and more. Our faculty and staff are dedicated to educating our students, reveling a culture of learning by doing, such that they are best equipped to serve the society as professionals, scholars, academic leaders and entrepreneurs. Our students are our inspiration.

Selected courses are supported by DataCamp, the most intuitive learning platform for data science. Learn R, Python and SQL the way you learn best through a combination of short expert videos and hands-on-the-keyboard exercises. Take over 100+ courses by expert instructors on topics such as importing data, data visualization or machine learning and learn faster through immediate and personalised feedback on every exercise.