We study extreme weather, climate change, and their impacts on both ecosystems and modern society.
Atmospheric Sciences
Environmental Geoscience
We use biology, chemistry, geology, and physics to understand how the Earth System supports such a diversity of life and how human behavior is impacting this system.
Geodata Science Initiative
Data science is the fourth and the newest paradigm of science. In Geodata Science Initiative, we conduct transdisciplinary research, merging or articulating EAPS subject matters with technical areas in data science: statistical and machine learning methods and models, algorithms for the models and methods, and computational environments for data analysis.
Geology and Geophysics
We study the processes that shape our planet, from the building of mountains and oil-bearing sedimentary basins, to the flow of warm rocks and cold glaciers, to the triggering of earthquakes.
Planetary Science
We study the evolution of the solar system and how planets evolve over time due to impacts, tectonics, and atmospheric processes, with an eye to the potential for past and future habitability.
Research News
Purdue launches weather balloons for the National Weather Service
07-30-2026
WLFI — Every day, worldwide, nearly two thousand weather balloons are launched from weather service stations. Here at home, Purdue University launches weather balloons ahead of severe weather, just like they did on Monday. Professor Robin Tanamachi was interviewed for this story.
Planetary scientists Brandon Johnson and Alexandria Johnson studied the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago, killing most of the dinosaurs. They discovered the impact swathed the planet in an insulating dust cloud that caused planetwide spontaneous combustion, atmospheric contamination and population collapse in any species that couldn’t take shelter.
Ralph W. and Grace M. Showalter Research Trust Award Recipients
07-14-2026
Assistant Professor Michael Vermeuel, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, receives the 2026 Showalter Research Trust Award.
Space news: Tiny moon explorers, a debate about the expanding universe, and more
06-23-2026
NPR — In this space news roundup, Berly McCoy and Regina Barber of NPR's Short Wave talk about tiny autonomous "transformers" that can explore the moon, a debate about the expanding universe, and more. EAPS's Roger Wiens was interviewed in this podcast.
Lunar Magma Ocean Hypothesis May Get First Direct Test at Artemis IV South Pole Landing Site
06-23-2026
Tech Times — A pair of peer-reviewed studies announced today by researchers at Southwest Research Institute reveal that the Moon's largest and oldest impact crater was carved by a protoplanet-sized object striking from the north — and that the collision scattered deep lunar mantle rock precisely where NASA plans to land the first Artemis astronauts in 2028. EAPS Research Scientist Shigeru Wakita was quoted in the article.