Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences

Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences (DEEPS) integrates teaching and research to investigate fundamental phenomena affecting the Earth and planets. Our students engage in hands-on learning, in collaboration with DEEPS faculty, to explore natural hazards, global climate, and planetary bodies.

A recent study utilizes ancient plant waxes preserved in sediments from two Utah lakes to investigate ancient climate history. Assistant Professor Dan Ibarra noted that a key reason for analyzing the hydrogen isotopes is to compare the climate patterns revealed by the plant wax to the patterns predicted by current climate models.
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Professor Jim Head is heading the 500-Day Design Reference Mission, which researches practices that would be necessary for 500 days on the moon. The project also helps to train the next generation of planetary scientists. WaTae Mickey ’26, a research assistant in Head’s lab, is researching the site where Apollo 15 landed. Logan Ramanathan ’28, another research assistant in the lab, is researching lunar surface power and surface interactions with rocket exhaust.
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The Brown Daily Herald spoke to weather experts, including Professor Amanda Lynch and graduate student Maria Luìsa Rocha, to understand the distinction between the two winter weather events. “In short, all blizzards are snowstorms, but not all snowstorms meet the criteria to be classified as blizzards,” Maria noted.
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Contact Us

Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

Box 1846
324 Brook Street
Providence, RI 02912

DEEPS@Brown.edu
(401) 863-3339