Marine Geosciences are a discipline that aims to better understand the planet through the exploration, analysis, documentation, and demystification of the most dominant feature of the planet, the marine system. This includes all depths from coast to deep ocean, past, present, and future. 

The Dr. Moses Strauss Department of Marine Geosciences (DMG), is a leading edge, sea-going facility, established in 2007. DMG combines research and graduate studies of the marine environment in the following main disciplines: observational geophysics, mapping and remote sensing, geodynamics, tectonics, marine and coastal sedimentology, geochemistry, and chemical and physical oceanography. DMG comprises one of the foundational pillars in the multidisciplinary framework of the Charney School of Marine Sciences (CSMS), the only sea-going academic facility in Israel. 

Studies conducted in the Department of Marine Geosciences utilize advanced methods of data acquisition, processing and analysis to decipher phenomena that occur in the marine geosphere. Over the last decade, the growing concern regarding global changes, the search for new energy sources and the emergence of unprecedented developments that offer new avenues of research have created global interest in geo-marine studies. Research encompassing various disciplines that interact in a way that demands a holistic research approach: from the structure of the seafloor, the Earth’s crust underneath it, and the search for energy sources (oil, gas, hydrates), to the dynamics of the water body above it, sea level changes and their relation to tectonic and climate changes, pollution fingerprints, coastline developments in present and past times (e.g., collapse of cliffs) and, finally, present and past influences on human evolution. 

This area of research is particularly critical given the recent deep-sea gas discoveries offshore, and the environmental challenges and concerns that it raises. The skills gained in this program open career opportunities in disciplines such as exploration geophysics, environmental sciences, geology, climate studies, marine conservation, and other related fields. Our graduates can be found worldwide in a wide range of positions in governmental, NGOs, industry, consulting firms, as well as continuing to further academic tracks and university careers. 

Using the eastern Mediterranean as a natural marine laboratory, students in the program are provided with a unique opportunity to develop practical scientific experience at sea together with a rigorous academic curriculum. Study programs combine coursework with deep sea, coastal and underwater field excursions, as well as geological field trips to coastal marine structures, geological marine features, and have opportunities in studies requiring scientific diving (SCUBA-AAUS).