The Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences - DISTAV - groups biologists and geologists, performing research and teaching in a wide range of geological, biological and environmental topics.

Historically, DISTAV merged the Department of Earth Sciences, the Institute of Botany, the Institute of Marine Environmental Sciences and the Institute of Zoology. In 2011, DISTAV also included the Department of Biology, which originally merged the Institutes of Comparative Anatomy, Botany, Physiology and of Biochemistry.

DISTAV offers the following 8 study courses: the Bachelor's Degrees in Biological Sciences, Geological Sciences, Environmental and Natural Sciences; the Master's Degrees in Applied and Experimental Biology, Marine Biology and Ecology, Conservation and Management of Nature, Geological Sciences, Methodologies for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage. DISTAV also contributes to courses offered by other departments, among which engineering, chemistry, physics, architecture, biotechnology, cultural heritage, geographic sciences, educational studies, medicine and surgery.

DISTAV manages the PhD Program in Sciences and Technologies for the Environment and Territory (STAT, two curricula: Earth Sciences, Biology Applied to Agriculture and the Environment) and the Curriculum of Marine Ecosystem Sciences in the framework of the PhD in Science and Technology of the Sea (STM).