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
Midwest states east of 'tornado alley' are bearing the brunt of severe storm season.
07-01-2025
NPR — Destructive tornadoes have hit states such as Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana this season as activity shifts east. Meanwhile, scientists say dry and hot weather in the Great Plains brought on by climate change could be slowing the number of tornadoes there. EAPS professor Dan Chavas was cited in this article.
Common clay could be cheapest-ever way to capture CO₂, say US scientists.
07-01-2025
Interesting Engineering — A group of scientists from Purdue University and Sandia National Laboratories has made a surprising breakthrough in climate technology using one of the most common materials on Earth—clay. EAPS's Cliff Johnston is cited in the article.
Forget Mars and Europa — NASA is hunting life on this unthinkable little world
07-01-2025
The Pulse — NASA is constantly searching for any signs of life in the solar system. Earth is currently the only planet that is capable of holding life as we know it, as the distance between it and the sun is perfect for life to proliferate. Now, they are turning their focus to somewhere else to see if there’s something vital for life. A team led by Ian Pamerleau, a Ph.D. student at Purdue University, worked with his supervisor, Mike Sori, and Jennifer Scully from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Ceres: The asteroid belt’s forgotten ocean world
06-24-2025
Big Think — Dawn data showed that Ceres’ density is quite low, suggesting a high overall water (rather than rock) content. That seemed inconsistent, however, with the general lack of shallow craters and the observation that deep craters are very well preserved. Recently, following a paper published in Nature Astronomy by EAPS's Ian Pamerleau and colleagues from Purdue University and the Jet Propulsion Lab, we found a solution to this apparent mystery.
Perseverance rover may hold secrets to newly discovered Mars volcano
06-16-2025
NewScientist — There appears to be a volcano near Jezero crater on Mars and the Perseverance rover might already have samples from it that we could use to precisely date the activity of another planet's volcano for the first time. Purdue EAPS's Briony Horgan is quoted in the article.