EAPS News
With the world’s temperature rising, the Earth’s permafrost areas are particularly vulnerable
01-15-2021
Permafrost is defined as ground that has been frozen for at least two consecutive years. With the Earth’s temperature steadily rising, the impacts on permafrost have been unclear but also an area of concern for climate scientists. In last few decades, permafrost underneath boreal ecosystems has started to degrade due to climate warming. The degradation rate in response to the warming remains unclear.
Full Steam Ahead Podcast Episode 86 – Asteroid Research
01-11-2021
Purdue University‘s connection to space exploration doesn’t stop with astronauts. Former NASA employee, and current assistant professor, Dr. Michelle Thompson is passionate about studying asteroid samples, and is in the middle of some incredible research on some samples that were recently returned to earth. On the latest episode of Full Steam Ahead: A Podcast About Purdue, FOX59’s Adam Bartels talks with Thompson about her research, her passion behind it, as well as its importance, her involvement with the Hayabusa2 science team, and more!
Water World: Arizona Scientists on New Evidence, Questions About Life on Mars
01-04-2021
Dr. Mike Sori, assistant professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University, is cited in this article about water and the possibility of life on Mars.
Q&A with Aaron Goldner: From climate researcher to senior policy advisor
12-18-2020
On Capitol Hill, the day-to-day business of government works because of smart, hardworking people with a passion for public service—people like Purdue alumnus, Dr. Aaron Goldner. Back in 2013 you could find Goldner at one of West Lafayette’s coffee houses, chugging through lines of code. His graduate research focused on understanding what forcings (e.g., carbon dioxide, the Antarctic Ice Sheet, the El Niño Southern Oscillation) were critical in altering past climates and whether the scale of these forcing could be quantified to better predict future climate change. After earning his PhD from Purdue’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences that summer, Goldner headed to Washington, DC as an AGU-AAAS Congressional Science Fellow working in the Senate and at the Department of Energy, and he's been there ever since. He is currently senior advisor on energy and transportation policy in the Office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. PCCRC's Rose Filley caught up with Goldner to talk about his work on the Hill.
Asteroid explorer collects first samples thought to be rich in organic compounds; a Purdue scientist will be among the first to study
12-16-2020
A fireball lit up the Australian sky in the first week of December, as Japan’s Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer sent a capsule containing pieces of nearby asteroid Ryugu down to the Earth’s surface. The capsule and its cargo were met with international cheers, including those of Michelle Thompson, a Purdue scientist who will be one of the first researchers in the world to study the samples. Thompson, professor of planetary sciences, was recruited to the Hayabusa2 science team to study the composition and molecular structure of materials returned from the asteroid.