Eric Kirby re-joined the Penn State Community as Professor and Head of the Department of Geosciences in July 2025. Dr. Kirby began his academic career in the faculty of the Department of Geosciences at Penn State University, as Assistant Professor (2002-2008) and Associate Professor (2008-2013). From 2013-2020, he held the R.S. Yeats Chair of Earthquake Geology and Active Tectonics in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS) at Oregon State University. From 2017-2020, he served as the Associate Dean for Academic Programs in CEOAS, overseeing and functioning of academic programs in oceanography, geology & geophysics, geography, and environmental sciences. Prior to returning to Penn State, Dr. Kirby was a Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served as the inaugural Chair of the Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences.
Dr. Kirby is internationally recognized for his work on active tectonics and faulting in the lithosphere, the impact of tectonics on landscape evolution, and the growth of topography along the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau. His ongoing research is centered on the interplay between climate, erosion, and tectonics along the Cascadia subduction zone and within the Taiwanese orogen. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA) and has served in numerous advisory and editorial roles for the GSA, IRIS/Earthscope, and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Currently, Dr. Kirby is a Councilor of the GSA and a member of their Executive Council, and he is President-Elect of the Earth Surface Processes and Landforms section at AGU.
Dr. Kirby holds a Ph.D. in Geology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2001), a M.S. in Geology from the University of New Mexico (1994), and a B.A. in Geology from Hamilton College (1992).
