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Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

The Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences has a great diversity of programs and intersecting disciplines, with faculty and students studying in fields such as Tectonics, Geophysics, Atmospheric Dynamics and Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Biogeochemistry, Climate Change, Severe Weather, Planetary Sciences, Astrobiology, Data Science, and many other areas. We are committed to strategic initiatives that explore the connections between the Earth’s interior and surface, climate and sustainability, planetary exploration and spacecraft missions, and the development of emerging fields of study.

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Midwest states east of 'tornado alley' are bearing the brunt of severe storm season.

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.

Forget Mars and Europa — NASA is hunting life on this unthinkable little world

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.

Common clay could be cheapest-ever way to capture CO₂, say US scientists.

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.

Ceres: The asteroid belt’s forgotten ocean world

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

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.

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Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051 • Phone: (765) 494-3258 • Fax: (765) 496-1210 • Contact Us

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