This list showcases successful business founded by Brown Alumni, demonstrating how Brown's open curriculum inspires innovation and flexibility across disciplines. Christopher Williams studied geology-biology and computer science at Brown, graduating in 2026. His company, Nematex, describes itself as offering the first biological solution to sterilise root knot nematodes, a pest that attacks crop roots.

As we prepare for the Spring 2026 semester, DEEPS is excited to share our upcoming course options.

The Possibly Podcast recently looked at how Providence rivers have been contaminated with metals. To find out if climate change could be making the problem worse, the team spoke with Sarah Kramer and Leo Nachamie.

DEEPS PhD Student Maria Luísa Rocha wrote a story for Polar Coupled Analysis and Prediction for Services (PCAPS) about discussions at the 2026 Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík. "The discussion in Reykjavík was a reminder of how much these efforts depend on one another," shared Rocha. "Improving observations, developing better prediction systems, making scientific data accessible, and maintaining international cooperation are all part of preparing for the next International Polar Year."

The U. S. National Science Foundation has renewed funding for the Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet (C-CoMP) for an additional five years. DEEPS and APMA Professor Mara Freilich is PI on the Center's renewal with a focus on developing multiscale models.

In cities like Providence that have a long industrial history, heavy metals often end up in the waterways. A recent episode of the Possibly Podcast interviewed DEEPS Professor Dan Ibarra to learn how this happens, and what it means for the city’s residents.

Brown researchers recently published a study examining how salt levels in these oceans affect the growth of icy shells on several distant moons in our solar system. According to Nina Gilkyson, DEEPS PhD student and the paper's first author, while habitability of these icy worlds is still a largely unknown area, “seeing water on other worlds is always so exciting” because of the vital role it plays in supporting life on Earth.

The University recently hosted three Climate@Brown faculty town halls focused on getting faculty feedback on the future of Brown’s climate scholarship and action. Kim Cobb, DEEPS Professor and Director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, explained that the Climate@Brown initiative hopes to focus on the “long-term opportunity” for climate research, while remembering the “full scope of the damages that come from turning away from this work.”

Guided by Assistant Professor Blake Hodgin, a group of undergraduates recently ventured to upstate New York for the annual DEEPS Fall Field Trip. The students learned about the unique geologic history of the region, examined dinosaur footprints, and explored Kaaterskill Falls in the Catskill Mountains.

In EEPS 0080: “Art in Flight: The Creative Exploration of Titan,” DEEPS Assistant Professor Sam Birch and BAI senior technical supervisor DJ Potter bring together art and science to encourage students to explore the universe and communicate scientific ideas in creative ways. Birch shared that he hopes the class will emphasize the importance of space exploration and the “hope” it brings. “I think it’s really, really important that we show that you can explore,” he added. “It’s just something we’re missing now.”

Hosted by Brown Technology Innovations, the annual Innovation@Brown Showcase is a celebration of the spirit of discovery in and around Brown University. This year, Assistant Professor Chris Horvat's project EMPIRIC received the award for Innovation of the Year. EMPIRIC is a new AI-based method for rapid climate and extreme weather prediction for island and coastal territories.

This September, the students of EEPS 1370 Environmental Geochemistry went on their annual water and sediment sampling trip around Rhode Island. The group visited the Scituate Reservoir, the Pawtuxet River, Pawtuxet Cove, Brickyard Pond, and Walker's Farm to take water samples that they will use in their coursework throughout the Fall semester.

A recent study estimate that Mercury is shrinking 30 percent faster than expected. “Every planet is an odd little duck that has a story to tell,” commented Assistant Professor Sam Birch, who was not involved in the study. “If you can understand how fast Mercury is shrinking, you can understand how fast it’s cooling, what size it started at and what it’s made out of.”

The 2026 El Niño is predicted to be the strongest on record. Professor Emanuele Di Lorenzo commented on this update, comparing how different environmental factors influence a more extreme El Niño. “Deep convection switches on above a threshold sea surface temperature,” Di Lorenzo said. “The same anomaly added to a warmer mean state pushes a much larger area past that threshold and drives a stronger atmospheric response.”

A 1000-year archive preserved in fossil corals from the Galápagos offers some of the strongest evidence yet that global warming is already making El Niño stronger. DEEPS Professor and IBES Director Kim Cobb commented on this new research, saying “This system is the largest source of climate extremes on our planet,” Cobb says. “And if it is in itself becoming more extreme, that has some very serious implications for society, and it’s information that we should be acting on.”

Using tracking data from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Odyssey (ODY) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft, a team of researchers including Postdoctoral Research Associate Nick Wagner have found that the interior of Mars’ southern hemisphere is significantly hotter than the northern half. "This temperature variation could reflect regional mantle convection or insulation by the thick southern highlands crust of Mars that has persisted over several billion years."

A new peer-reviewed study published earlier this month in Earth’s Future suggests that it is possible to demonstrate that “emissions from company X cause injury Y.” IBES Director and DEEPS Professor Kim Cobb, an expert in observational climate studies, commented on this new study, saying we’re gaining something “extremely valuable” in Callahan’s study.

Researchers at Brown have confirmed that tiny green and orange volcanic glass beads collected during the Apollo 15 and 17 Moon missions contain trapped water, overturning the long-held belief that the lunar interior was completely dry. Professor Jim Head, who helped select the Apollo 15 landing site, commented that the water findings “absolutely revolutionized our thinking about how the Moon formed.”

From the local water quality of Narragansett Bay to river-dune interactions on Titan, DEEPS undergraduate students participated in a variety of cutting edge research projects during their 2026 summer break. We're proud to showcase their research and experiences.

The story of changing oceans is usually told through temperature shifts and melting ice, but a new study published in "Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems" points to tectonic movement along the ocean floor. Professor Colleen Dalton and her team built on an earlier 2022 study that established a clear pattern of slowing global plate growth starting around 15 million years ago, which continued until about 6 million years ago. This resulted in deeper seas, and Dalton's team found that the basin deepening alone dropped sea level by 26 to 32 meters (roughly 85 to 105 feet).