Research Areas
Atmospheric Sciences
We study extreme weather, climate change, and their impacts on both ecosystems and modern society.
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
Unrelaxed craters muddy the waters of the dwarf planet Ceres
09-19-2024
NATURE — Ceres’s surface is ice-rich and warm, so we expect craters to viscously flow. Yet most of Ceres’s craters are not shallow. A new model, created by Ian Pamerleau and Prof. Mike Sori of Purdue EAPS, that includes a stronger, progressively dirtier icy crust, frozen from an ancient ocean, may reconcile this discrepancy.
Ali Bramson is 2024 AGU Ronald Greeley Early Career Award in Planetary Science Recipient
09-18-2024
WEST LAFAYETTE— Ali Bramson has been named AGU's 2024 Ronald Greeley Early Career Award in Planetary Science recipient. The Ronald Greeley Early Career Award in Planetary Sciences is presented annually and recognizes significant early-career contributions to planetary science from honorees within six years of receiving their Ph.D. Established in 2012, this award is named in honor of AGU Fellow Ronald Greeley for his influential contributions in both training and mentoring planetary scientists.
Debjani Singh: Channeling a river of data for clean energy, sustainability
09-11-2024
ALUMNI NEWS — Like the hundreds of rivers and streams she and her team have rendered in exquisite detail, Debjani Singh’s career has taken some twists and turns. Singh is a senior scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory with expertise in water resources, data science and earth science, a combination that makes her uniquely suited to lead the HydroSource project, where she applies data science to solve complex water resource management issues. Singh’s goal is to bridge the gap between the world of research and practical application by giving the data life beyond the traditional confines of scientific inquiry. Singh is an alumna of Purdue EAPS.
1 million shots for ChemCam on Mars
09-10-2024
CNES — On Wednesday August 21, the millionth ChemCam shot was fired at Mars. This was Sol 4281, the 4281st Martian day of the mission. The data were received on Thursday August 22nd for analysis by the American team. ChemCam was developed at Los Alamos and in France with Prof. Roger Wiens of Purdue EAPS as its leader 2004-2021. He and student Mia Rudin are still using it to study Mars.
ChemCam fires its laser for the millionth time on Mars
09-10-2024
LOS ALAMOS — The Curiosity rover has been roaming the red planet for 12 years and has fired its one millionth laser shot on Mars. It began zapping away over 12 years ago and is still going strong. ChemCam was developed at Los Alamos and in France with Prof. Roger Wiens of Purdue EAPS as its leader 2004-2021. He and student Mia Rudin are still using it to study Mars.