Research initiatives occur in many areas of geoscience including petrology, tectonics, glaciology, quaternary and surficial geology, hydrogeology, planetary geology, seismology, and solid earth geophysics. There is a interdisciplinary effort in geochemistry including aqueous, petroleum and isotopic studies.
The Applied Geochemistry group (AGg) employs a wide variety of physical, chemical, isotopic and modelling techniques to study aspects of the water cycle and trace the fate of anthropogenic carbon, nitrogen and sulphur in both surface and subsurface environments.
The Centre for Applied Basin Studies (formerly Applied Stratigraphy Research Group) uses a multidisciplinary approach. This includes biostratigraphy, ichnology, geochemistry, sedimentology, and sequence stratigraphy to resolve stratigraphic problems, characterize reservoirs and determine tectonic influences on basin architecture and sedimentologic processes in basins around the world including Western and Arctic Canada.
The CSS joint industry project (JIP) is a collaboration between the University of Calgary, Colorado State University, Virginia Tech and industrial partners, which aims to better understand the processes of sediment transfer across deep-water slopes through analysis of channel deposits that crop out in the Magallanes Basin of southern Chile. A primary motivation is to provide insight into stratigraphic architecture and hydrocarbon distribution within subsurface reservoirs that are hosted in analogous slope channel system deposits. As such, the research ultimately aims to provide geomodels of slope channel strata constrained by detailed outcrop observations.
CREWES works closely with industry partners, conducts advanced research in resource exploration and development. It focuses on improved acquisition, processing and interpretation of multi-component seismic data. The principal goal is improved 3D geological images of the subsurface.
The mission of the Energy Bioengineering Group is to develop new solutions for a clean energy future. It is led by led by Marc Strous. The mission of the Geomicrobiology Group, led by Casey Hubert, is to apply subsurface and marine microbiology for energy sector innovation.
The department has a very active Hydrogeology Research Group with internationally recognized research programs in surface water-groundwater interaction, hydrogeophysics, isotope hydrology, numerical groundwater modelling, vadose zone hydrology and alpine hydrology.
IFFAEM is an analytical facility established in 2011 and built around an FEI Quanta 250 FEG field emission scanning electron microscope. A rich assortment of additional detectors and auxiliary equipment yields a facility well equipped to examine a wide range of samples using diverse imaging modalities and to perform varied dynamic experiments.
The University of Calgary Laboratory for Electron Microprobe Analysis (UCLEMA) was established in 2001 to provide secondary and back scattered electron imaging and characteristic X-ray microanalysis capability to the department and the larger university community, as well as researchers in the oil and gas, mineral and engineering sectors.
The Microseismic Industry Consortium is a novel, applied-research geophysical initiative dedicated to the advancement of research, education and technological innovations in microseismic methods and their practical applications for resource development. Working with industry partners and government agencies, the consortium is a team of faculty, students and researchers hosted by the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta.
The Prairie Meteorite Search Project (MIAC/CCMI) research group uses the method pioneered by Harvey Nininger seventy years ago to recover meteorites.
PRG works on reducing emissions to the atmosphere and energy recovery from fossil fuels.
TOC is a multidisciplinary research group with a focus on geological and engineering problems of low-permeability oil reservoirs. Research efforts are directed toward reservoir characterization, including geological characterization, pore structure, fluid flow analysis and fluid-rock interaction, as well as production analysis of these increasingly important resources.
The Geo- and Thermochronology Research Group investigates tectonic and basin processes using geochronology and thermochronological methods including U-Pb, (U-Th-Sm)/He, and fission track dating.
The WaterSHED (Water, Sediment, Hazards, and Earth-surface Dynamics) group studies geomorphological change, primarily in high altitude and high latitude environments. Research efforts are focused on landslides and floods, glacial landscapes, and rivers.