The Department of Earth Sciences, the former Department of Geology, was established in 1956 five years after the establishment of the science faculty in 1950. Since its establishment and until recently, the department of Earth Sciences served as the only Earth Science teaching and research institution in the country. The department of Earth Sciences is one of the strongest Departments of the Faculty of Science. Through the establishment of a full-fledged Remote sensing and GIS laboratory the department extended its six streams in to seven.

The academic and non academic program of the Department has grown considerably over the years. The academic program has grown from offering service courses at the beginning to a strong undergraduate and lately graduate program in eighteen fields of specializations in Earth Sciences. The academic staff developed from a one non Ethiopian staff to foreign expatriate dominated to a large number of qualified and fully Ethiopian staff. The Department of Earth Sciences has produced over 1000 graduates in Diploma and B.Sc. Degree and nearly 200 M.Sc. graduates to date.