School of Earth and Environmental Sciences to Debut in the College of Arts & Sciences June 1

The School of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the Baylor University College of Arts & Sciences will make its formal debut on June 1, 2026. The new School will be created through an historic merger of two current departments within Arts & Sciences –– the Department of Geosciences and the Department of Environmental Science.

Baylor University Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., announced the creation of the new School in her campus email newsletter on April 13. “I am excited about the interdisciplinary opportunities this new School creates,” she said. “I look forward to the important work ahead for the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.”

Brickhouse said this is the first time at Baylor that a school has been created by the merger of two or more departments within a University academic unit. To make sure the process progressed smoothly –– and could be repeated in the future with a minimum of uncertainty –– the Provost’s Office developed guidelines that establish the criteria, process and governance structure required when creating such a new school.

These guidelines state that the intent of merging two or more departments to create a new school should be to “promote interdisciplinary teaching and research, strengthen academic programs, enhance external research competitiveness, and improve institutional alignment while maintaining fiscal responsibility.”

In her newsletter announcing the new School, Brickhouse referenced the goal of fiscal responsibility.

“As we are ever-mindful of stewarding our financial resources, I want to stress that this new School will not add any additional administrative overhead to the College of Arts & Sciences or the University,” she said.

Plans for the merger of the two departments do not call for any change in the number or makeup of faculty. The School will occupy a majority of the fourth floor of the Baylor Sciences Building, where both departments are currently located.

More than a year of planning

Discussions about the potential for merging departments within Arts & Sciences began in the spring of 2024, when Lee Nordt, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, asked for input from a few faculty members in geosciences and environmental sciences.

“The initial response was positive enough that eventually we held a meeting with all faculty,” Nordt said. “There was a lot of back and forth, and eventually a subset got together with other faculty members and began talking about it themselves over the course of a year or so.”

Charles Weaver III, Ph.D., associate dean for sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, said that an early test of the ability of the two departments to work together came in the fall of 2025.

“That semester, geosciences and environmental sciences started a shared seminar series, where they listened to each other’s research and had conversations about the possibilities of pursuing other joint ventures,” he said. “The possibilities were great enough that the faculty became excited about the new opportunities that might be coming their way with a merger.”

Nordt said that in the late fall of 2025, he conducted a Qualtrics survey among faculty in the two departments, asking for their opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of a possible merger. Overall, faculty were supportive of the idea, but the consensus was that the new entity would work best as a new school, instead of simply a larger department.

Advantages of the merger

The merger of the two departments into the new School is expected to have long-term benefits.

“Important parts of the separate departments, such as in environmental and water quality issues, already overlap in many areas,” Nordt said. “With the merger, faculty can build new synergies and efficiencies that would not be possible otherwise.”

One area where such new synergies will be promising is in the area of energy.

“We will be merging the full spectrum of energy resources and research into one School,” Nordt said. “Now, people who study petroleum and people who study green energy will be working together. We’re hoping some synergies might emerge there, providing our students with a good knowledge of the broad spectrum of energy.”

The new School should also provide benefits for students and researchers.

“By incorporating one of the larger STEM graduate programs at Baylor, the new School of Earth and Environmental Sciences has the potential to facilitate student access to a broader array of graduate classes,” said George Cobb, Ph.D., chair and professor of environmental sciences. “It will also have improved research infrastructure, providing a great potential to create synergies among research groups that will facilitate research of global scope and impact.” 

“The new School will be one of the largest units within the College of Arts & Sciences, and will provide significant opportunities for undergraduates to find their perfect concentration and degree,” said Joe C. Yelderman Jr., Ph.D., chair and professor of geosciences. “Our students will find many opportunities for double majors, secondary majors and minors that will prepare them for rewarding careers involving energy, critical minerals, planetary studies, water quantity and quality, and climate and atmospheric research, to name just a few areas of research.”

In addition, Nordt believes that fundraising opportunities will be greater for the new School by encompassing both geosciences and environmental sciences, and is confident that grant funding will increase as collaborative efforts emerge.

Next steps

Patrick Farmer, Ph.D., associate dean for research and graduate education in the College of Arts & Sciences and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, will serve as the interim chair of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Over the 2026-2027 academic year, a national search will be completed for a permanent chair. 

Dan Peppe, Ph.D., professor of geosciences, and Christie Sayes, Ph.D., professor of environmental sciences, will serve as interim associate chairs of the new School.

To help deal with the many issues involved with merging the two departments over the upcoming academic year, Nordt appointed a four-person transition team that include Dr. Peppe, Dr. Sayes, Rebecca Sheesley, Ph.D., professor of environmental sciences, and William Hockaday, professor of geosciences.

In a joint statement of support, transition team members said the creation of the new School recognizes the need to train students and conduct research using an integrated method of study that responds to our current world needs.

“The earth is our common home, and our students and faculty understand the need for a holistic approach that includes the study of human systems, the role of society, environmental impacts, and the broader geophysical context,” team members said. “Our faculty draw on their research strengths, integrating diverse disciplinary knowledge to foster a transdisciplinary understanding of complex systems. From the mechanisms of molecules to the movements of planets, we want to be a school that sees the world.”

Dean Nordt, a longtime professor of geosciences at Baylor who will begin serving as interim vice present and provost when Brickhouse steps down on July 31, will be a faculty member in the new School. He said he’s looking forward to the possibilities it will provide.

“This is all for the better, since the departments will be stronger together rather than apart. I’m going back to the School eventually, and I’m excited for the opportunity,” he said.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments in the sciences, humanities, fine arts and social sciences, as well as 11 academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. The College’s undergraduate Unified Core Curriculum, which routinely receives top grades in national assessments, emphasizes a liberal education characterized by critical thinking, communication, civic engagement and Christian commitment. Arts & Sciences faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit the College of Arts & Sciences website.