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
Solving for climate: Earth’s next top (climate) model
05-30-2023
THIRD POD FROM THE SUN (AGU) — We all know the saying “history repeats itself” but to what extent is that true when it comes to Earth’s climate? In order to understand and even predict future climates, transitions from one historical climate state to another can be mathematically modeled by atmospheric scientists like Dr. Matthew Huber, of Purdue EAPS. However, there’s something special about how anthropogenic climate change is impacting climate transitions, and it’s Dr. Huber’s job to capture this oddity with math!
05-30-2023
Dr. Alexandria Johnson, of Purdue EAPS, does hard science on the most nebulous of subjects: clouds. As an atmospheric scientist and assistant professor of practice in Purdue University’s College of Science, she studies clouds wherever they are: in her lab, on Earth, throughout the solar system and into the galaxy.
Polar ice caps may reveal climate history of Mars
05-18-2023
Much like the Earth, Mars’ poles are cold and icy. The Martian ice caps have neighboring craters, formed from impacts by meteors, much like the craters you might see on Earth’s Moon. Near the poles, many of these craters are also filled with ice. How did that ice get there? Was it deposited all at the same time? These questions are what a team of scientists at Purdue EAPS have set out to answer. They use radar data collected by a spacecraft orbiting Mars to unlock these icy time capsules’ hidden historic secrets.
Mike Sori receives NASA Planetary Science Early Career Award to pursue planetary geophysics
05-18-2023
Big dreams of exploring the planets in our Solar System with spacecrafts led Dr. Mike Sori to a career in planetary geophysics. He is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). NASA has rewarded his determination to study the geophysics of our planets with a Planetary Science Early Career Award.
PERiLS at Purdue aims to save lives by studying tornadoes that form along squall lines
05-15-2023
In light of recent extreme storms creating havoc across several states and producing multiple tornadoes, it is clear that preparedness and research for tornadoes and storms save lives. Dr. Daniel Dawson, Assistant Professor of Purdue EAPS, leads a team of researchers and students at Purdue University as part of a large field program called PERiLS and they are on a mission to study how tornadoes develop within thunderstorms that form along lines, sometimes called "squall lines” or quasi-linear convective systems (QLCSs).