Though the department's creation has been in the works for six years, the scientific merger of geology, geophysics and oceanography has been a process underway since the Second World War.
"There has been a gradual convergence due to the complexity of problems in earth and ocean sciences, problems which can best be solved through close collaboration among experts from a number of subdisciplines within the broad field," says Ellis. "There is no doubt that it is the needs of the science and a contemporary teaching program in the science that has brought us together."
The new department is born out of the former departments of Geological Sciences, Oceanography and the geophysics group from the Dept. of Geophysics and Astronomy.
Ellis, trained in mathematics and physics, has been contributing to advances in solid earth geophysics during the last 30 years by studying the structure and movement of the North American lithosphere - one of the major pieces (tectonic plates) of the earth's outer shell. Ellis applies the techniques of both explosion and earthquake seismology in his studies, a number of which have focused on plate interactions on the West Coast that are the cause of earthquakes.
Strong evidence for plate tectonics was gathered through exploration of ocean basins during the 1950s and 1960s and the continuing advances in earthquake seismology, seafloor mapping, geochronology and other earth and ocean sciences subdisciplines. Mining and hydrocarbon exploration forged closer ties between geologists and geophysicists as deposits became increasingly hard to find. Pollution and global change studies have also drawn together earth and atmospheric scientists as well as oceanographers (biological, chemical, geological and physical) to study the complex interactions.
In terms of the new department, Ellis' short-term challenge is to instil a sense of cohesion among 40 faculty, 25 post-doctoral students, 23 staff and 120 undergraduates.
A new building to house the group is promised and plans for its development are underway. However, for the next few years at least the department will operate out of four buildings on campus: geological sciences, geophysics/astronomy, biological sciences and the bookstore annex. It is anticipated that oceanographers currently in the annex will eventually inherit space in the geophysics/astronomy building vacated by the astronomy group. Ellis jokingly points out that faculty members need an extra line on their business cards designating their respective buildings to ensure proper mail delivery.
"In everything else, we are the Dept. of Earth and Ocean Sciences -- end of discussion."
Once administrative matters are in order, his next order of business is to review and rationalize academic programs to ensure that students receive the breadth and depth of education in earth and ocean sciences that the contemporary job market demands.
Says Ellis: "This new, integrated way of looking at the earth will of course manifest itself in the breadth and depth of education we offer to students."
Since the process of introducing a course or program takes about two years to work its way through the system, students won't be graduating from new programs until at least the year 2000.
Additional collaborative research activities are expected to emerge through the interaction of faculty previously in different departments and the increasingly multidisciplinary nature of research problems.