As climate impacts intensify, sea levels rise and resource security becomes a geopolitical concern, Earth science has never been more vital to Australia¡¯s future. And yet, across the country, university Earth science departments are being downsized, merged or shut down entirely. In a paradoxical twist, the very discipline that underpins our ability to adapt to a changing planet is being dismantled just as its relevance becomes inescapable.

Australia and its regional neighbours face a distinct suite of geoscience challenges: vast and remote mineral basins, extreme weather systems, rising seas and geological hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic activity. Earth science informs how we manage disasters, develop critical minerals, model climate systems and secure freshwater supplies. It is the bedrock of national resilience.

Yet in a documented, accelerating trend, institutions across the country have disbanded departments, declared programmes ¡°non-viable¡±, or subsumed geoscience into broader faculties, diminishing visibility and autonomy.

Macquarie, Wollongong, Queensland, Curtin, Tasmania, UNSW, Melbourne and Newcastle universities have all reduced or cut Earth science positions. Undergraduate offerings have shrunk dramatically, with geology majors and specialised programmes disappearing from several institutions. At the Australian National University, funding cuts to the Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES), where we work, led to the loss of 20 permanent staff in 2020, with ongoing uncertainty threatening further roles.

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This dismantling of national capability to address environmental and resource challenges highlights an identity crisis in higher education. Universities were founded to educate, to lead and to serve society. They are stewards of knowledge ¨C entrusted with preserving and advancing the understandings that allow societies to thrive. Yet across Australia, financial pressures and short-term metrics are driving academic decisions.

This disconnect is especially pointed at the ANU, whose founding mission is to ¡°bring credit to Australia, advance the cause of learning and research in general, and take its rightful place among the great universities of the world¡±. It aims to be a driver for societal change. Yet since 2020, inflation-adjusted budget cuts have halved the funding available for Earth science. Does this reflect a commitment to the ANU¡¯s mission? Can we lead the nation through global disruption if we dismantle the very disciplines that equip us to respond?

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The drivers of this shift are partly structural. Earth science is often taught in smaller departments with modest enrolments. Laboratory- and field-intensive programmes are expensive and difficult to scale digitally. Their outputs may not always translate into monetised impact or citation counts. But these surface inefficiencies obscure a deeper truth: Earth science is not a luxury ¨C it is critical infrastructure for a stable, sustainable and secure society.

At RSES, we see both the vulnerabilities facing Earth science and the immense value it provides. Our researchers helped confirm the theory of plate tectonics, mapped Earth¡¯s internal structure and developed the SHRIMP instrument for ultra-precise geological dating ¨C revolutionising our ability to unlock deep-time history. Today, we apply geophysics alongside experimental and analytical approaches to guide Australia¡¯s clean-energy transition. We contribute to nuclear monitoring, climate adaptation and resource security. We host nationally significant infrastructure and train one in five of Australia¡¯s Earth science PhD students. Our work reveals how Earth has responded to past environmental change, informing projections of sea-level rise and strategies for mitigation.

Despite these contributions, we face the same headwinds as our peers: shrinking funding, uncertain student pipelines and a national narrative that often overlooks Earth science in favour of trendier, more marketable fields. The result is a slow bleed of expertise and sovereign capability. While international collaboration remains essential, it is dangerous to over-rely on overseas scientists to interpret our geology, assess our risks or develop our resources ¨C especially as Earth science departments are vanishing elsewhere.

Universities pursue enrolment numbers and branding appeal, while governments call for innovation without adequately funding the fundamental research innovation depends on. Meanwhile, climate threats escalate, supply chains strain and demand for critical minerals surges.

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It¡¯s time for a strategic recalibration. Earth science must be recognised as an essential national capability ¨C foundational to Australia¡¯s security, sustainability and prosperity. That recognition demands stable, long-term investment in infrastructure, workforce development and discovery-led science.

It also means supporting laboratory- and field-based training, even when it doesn¡¯t lend itself to digital scalability. And it means acknowledging a simple truth: climate resilience, sound environmental policy and energy security all begin with understanding the planet we live on.

If we want universities to truly serve their purpose, we must fund them in ways that reflect their mission ¨C not just their margins.

What kind of society do we want? And what kind of universities do we need to support it? These are the questions we must ask now, while there is still time to answer them with purpose.

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is a professor of geodynamics at the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, where is director.