Letter from The Chair of EES - Spring 2026

Dear EES Community, Friends, and Alumni,
 

As we move through another exciting academic year in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Tulane University, I am delighted to share highlights of our vibrant community and ongoing initiatives. One of the things that makes our department so special is not only our strong academic and research achievements, but also the sense of camaraderie, connection, and shared purpose that defines us.
 

This academic year has been rich with events that brought students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends together both within and beyond the department. In December, New Orleans hosted the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Meeting, and EES had a large and successful presence. Our faculty, students, and researchers contributed numerous presentations that showcased the breadth and strength of scholarship in the department. Tulane also maintained a prominent School of Science and Engineering recruiting booth, which helped highlight the many exciting opportunities available through our programs. It was especially wonderful to see so many alumni at our EES alumni celebration during AGU, and we were grateful for the chance to reconnect and celebrate the broader Tulane EES community.
 

During the spring semester, we continued to build community through departmental events including an ice cream social, which also served as a mid-semester check-in for students, and a swamp tour that gave participants an opportunity to engage with the remarkable environmental setting of our region. These gatherings offered important opportunities to connect outside of the classroom and laboratory and reinforced the strong sense of community that defines EES.
 

We are also particularly proud of the continued strength of our undergraduate research program. This year, many of our undergraduates completed exciting senior theses spanning a wide range of topics, from lidar mapping of oyster reefs to seismological studies of volcanic eruption precursor tremors. These projects reflect both the intellectual breadth of our department and the dedication of our students and faculty mentors.
 

In addition to building community and supporting student research, our department remains deeply engaged in several key initiatives that are shaping the future of science and engineering at Tulane. Faculty and researchers from EES continue to play central roles in school-wide working groups focused on Space Science and Engineering and Resilient Habitats and Communities. At the university level, our department remains an active contributor to cross-campus partnerships focused on Energy, linking our expertise in Earth systems with collaborations in the Law and Business schools. These efforts reflect our growing role in addressing complex challenges at the intersections of natural systems, society, and policy.

Finally, I am pleased to share that we recently completed a successful assistant professor search resulting in the hiring of Dr. Tianze Liu, who will join EES in August following completion of a postdoctoral appointment at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Dr. Liu’s arrival marks an exciting addition to our department and will further strengthen our expertise in solid Earth geoscience and energy-related research.
 

Thank you all—students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends—for your contributions to the ongoing success of our department. We look forward to the opportunities ahead and to continuing to build on the energy, scholarship, and community that make EES such a special place.
Warm regards,

Kyle M. Straub
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Tulane University