Geomorphology at UCLA is best described as earth science in a human context. The graduate program in geomorphology has been in existence for more than 30 years, during which time some 80 students have completed MA or PhD degrees and have gone on to successful careers in academia, government, and industry. At the present time, the program is led by Antony Orme and Stanley Trimble, with support of other faculty members in climatology, biogeography, and remote sensing, as well as close liaisons with cognate disciplines across the campus. Over the years, research support has been derived from the National Science Foundation, the US Navy Office of Naval Research, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and various state and local governments.
Funding continues at a healthy level.
An important aspect of the program is the integration of field investigations with laboratory analyses and remote sensing. The principals have worked extensively in North America, Europe, and Africa, but it is the many challenges of the regional environment of California and the American Southwest that continue to attract graduate students. Themes such as the role of tectonism, eustasy, and isostasy in sea-level changes, of vegetation change and urbanization on mass movement and erosion, of climate change on lacustrine and desert systems, and of fluvial and marine impacts on estuaries and wetlands exemplify the focus of recent and continuing research efforts.