We study extreme weather, climate change, and their impacts on both ecosystems and modern society.
Atmospheric Sciences
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
Travel through Vietnam's Son Doong, the surreal cave so large a 747 plane could fly through it
03-31-2026
CBS 60 Minutes — Imagine discovering a marvel on par with Mount Everest or the Grand Canyon. It happened in 2009, with the revelation of the largest cave passage in the world. It's in Vietnam and they call it Hang Son Doong, "Mountain River Cave." 60 Minute's Scott Pelley toured the cave in an episode that features Darryl Granger, Purdue Science's Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Purdue Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences professor.
Purdue geologist Michael Eddy receives national early career award for Earth history research
03-30-2026
Michael P. Eddy, an associate professor in Purdue University's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, has received the 2026 Early Geological Career Award from the Geological Society of America's Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Petrology and Volcanology Division. The award recognizes scientists near the beginning of their careers who have made distinguished, multidisciplinary and field-based contributions to geology.
NASA Aims to Launch the World’s First Planet-Hopping Spacecraft Powered by Nuclear Fission
03-30-2026
Smithsonian Magazine — On March 24, NASA announced that it wants to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars by the end of 2028. If successful, it would be the first probe to use nuclear propulsion to travel beyond Earth’s orbit. EAPS's Briony Horgan was quoted in the article.
Steps to Leaps Awards Recipient - Ayobami Oladapo
03-30-2026
Ayobami Oladapo, a PhD student in EAPS, was honored as the 2026 Steps to Leaps Student of the Year. The honor is bestowed upon a student who has shown a passion for growth within the Steps to Leaps pillar areas and/or contributes toward the education of peers within those pillars.
IFL Science — Two fossil skulls found in central China are prompting fresh debate over when they lived – and where they belong in the human family tree. EAPS's Darryl Granger was quoted in the article.