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
How hurricanes will change as the Earth warms
07-09-2024
THE ECONOMIC TIMES — Hurricane Beryl struck the Grenadine Islands on July 1 as an early category 5 storm with unprecedented speed and intensity, attributed to warm ocean waters. Scientists forecast a record-breaking 2024 hurricane season. "If the National Hurricane Centre's early forecast, released May 23, is right, the North Atlantic could see 17 to 25 named storms, eight to 13 hurricanes, and four to seven major hurricanes by the end of November," says Jhordanne Jones, a postdoctoral research fellow who studies how climate change affects the scientific effort to predict hurricanes at Purdue University.
Isotope tracking suggests that plants cycle carbon faster than previously thought
07-08-2024
ROYAL SOCIETY OF CHEMISTRY — Tracking the carbon-14 released by twentieth century nuclear weapons tests suggests that the biosphere cycles carbon more quickly than previously thought. This could be because plants store more carbon in short-lived shoots and leaves rather than in woody biomass. The results could mean plants are less able to offset climate change than had previously been estimated. Prof. Lisa Welp, of Purdue EAPS, is cited in this article by RSOC.
Hurricane Beryl a Stark Warning of Things to Come as Our Planet Heats Up
07-05-2024
SCIENCE ALERT — An active hurricane season in 2024 was forecast well in advance. "If the National Hurricane Center's early forecast, released May 23, is right, the North Atlantic could see 17 to 25 named storms, eight to 13 hurricanes, and four to seven major hurricanes by the end of November," says Jhordanne Jones, a postdoctoral research fellow who studies how climate change affects the scientific effort to predict hurricanes at Purdue University EAPS.
Margaret Deahn awarded Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship
07-01-2024
Margaret Deahn says she could have never imagined as a child that she would grow up to study rocks on other planets. But now she has three internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and an education in planetary sciences with Purdue University on her growing list of accomplishments. Now she can add Amelia Earhart Fellow to that list. She is one of only 30 scientists worldwide receiving a 2024 Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship. Deahn is a PhD student with Purdue University’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS).
Stephanie Menten awarded Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship
07-01-2024
During a recent trip to Iceland, Stephanie Menten received an email announcing that she is one of only 30 scientists worldwide receiving a 2024 Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship. Menten, a PhD Student with Purdue University’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), studies the geophysics of icy moons in our outer solar system. Particularly, she studies processes such as cryovolcanism, volatile transport, and internal convection.