Hello Earth and Planetary Sciences Alumni,
The 2025–26 academic year is underway, marking the start of my fifth year as chair. Hard to believe four years have already flown by! One of the true highlights of this role—and something I look forward to every year—is meeting and working with our incredible alumni.
In just a few weeks, EPS will be at the GSA conference in San Antonio, and I hope many of you will join us on Monday night, October 20th, at Schilo’s. You should have already received an invitation, and it’s always wonderful to reconnect at these gatherings.
On campus, we’ve been working to enhance the department’s look and feel. New display cabinets now showcase minerals, fossils, and rocks, along with photos highlighting our field research. Beyond our building, we’ve been getting creative around Rutgers as well—this year’s Busch Campus dig to repair the high-temperature water pipes gave us the chance to stamp a geologic timeline into the new sidewalk (see the article in this newsletter). Looking ahead, we plan to bring in rocks from local quarries to create a new sitting and gathering space outside the old entrance to the 47-wing, further strengthening our presence on campus.
We recently held our Welcome Back Picnic, and it was a joy to see several of our seniors return with wonderful stories from the summer. A couple of camp directors also shared how impressed they were with our students—some of the best prepared they had seen for field experiences.
For updates on events, be sure to follow us on Facebook (Rutgers Earth & Planetary Sciences) or LinkedIn (Rutgers Earth and Planetary Sciences). You’ll also find details there about local alumni events. Our next one is the Holiday Party on December 3rd in the Geology Museum on College Ave. As always, events begin at 4 PM and often run until 7 PM or later.
The department continues to grow and evolve, and The Redbeds remains the best way to stay connected. If you have news to share, please reach out—we’d love to hear from you.
Best regards,
Jim Wright
