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
IFL Science — Two fossil skulls found in central China are prompting fresh debate over when they lived – and where they belong in the human family tree. EAPS's Darryl Granger was quoted in the article.
Back to the Moon!
03-19-2026
Living on Earth — The Artemis II mission is getting ready to use the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA to return to the moon for the first time since the original Apollo missions more than 50 years ago. EAPS's Erik Conway, a historian of science and technology at Purdue University and former NASA historian, tells Host Aynsley O’Neill about how declining public support shut down the Apollo program and why NASA again faces headwinds in maintaining the public’s interest in space exploration.
After the Impact, a Chemical Kitchen on Titan
03-16-2026
When an asteroid slams into Saturn's moon Titan, it does more than leave behind a crater. It briefly melts Titan's frozen, water-ice crust, creating a pond of liquid water that can last for thousands of years. At the same time, Titan's thick atmosphere constantly rains down simple organic molecules onto the surface.
Primordial Impact May Explain Why the Moon Is Asymmetrical
03-16-2026
EOS — Analysis of surface samples from the Chang’e-6 mission suggests that an asteroid may have vaporized parts of the lunar mantle, suppressing volcanic activity on the farside of the Moon. EAPS Assistant Professor Kelsey Prissel was interviewed for this article.
In Print: ‘Seismic Methods for Urban Engineers’
03-13-2026
Yunyue Elita Li, the Mary J. Elmore New Frontiers Professor in Data Science in the EAPS department, publishes a new book, “Seismic Methods for Urban Engineers.”