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).

In a 2025 paper in the "Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets", Assistant Professor Sam Birch and his team identified just two probable deltas among the large mapped rivers that terminate at Titan’s coastlines. That works out to roughly 1.3 per cent. Rivers of comparable size on Earth nearly always form one. The team built a numerical model to test the radar behavior of terrestrial water with the properties expected for Titan’s methane-rich liquids.

UCF's Florida Space Institute manages the Exolith Lab, which replicates a moon-base site using simulated lunar soil to allow researchers to design and test lunar spacesuits, rovers, and exploration hardware in realistic conditions. Cecilia D’Hondt-Gorbea, a Brown University rising junior studying in DEEPS, commented on the unique experience of participating in the moon-base infrastructure practice. "...it can get warm in there quickly, which is why we take so many breaks and make sure that we're all hydrating well," D’Hondt-Gorbea said, "But it is fun."

Following the Artemis II mission, Hania Khan, a Brown Mechanical Engineering student and DEEPS Communications Assistant, sat down with Professor Jim Head to discuss the past, present, and future of the NASA lunar exploration programs, from Apollo to Artemis and beyond.

Warm water in the Pacific Ocean is getting even warmer, likely to peak this winter as one of the strongest El Niño events in recorded history. Kim Cobb, Director of IBES and DEEPS Professor, spoke with NBC Connecticut about the El Niño's historical trends and recent local impact.

Soaring temperatures put intense pressure on the energy grid, further strained as data centers are increasing energy demand. Many data centers rely on backup diesel generators, which release planet-warming emissions and lack air pollution controls designed to safeguard public health. Kim Cobb, DEEPS Professor and Director of IBES, commented on the relationship between higher temperatures and higher electricity demands, saying, “Even a modest increase in baseline temperature causes an exponential increase in heat extremes. You find yourself crossing these heat extremes much more frequently.”

With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this year, fireworks will soon light up American skies. Professor Meredith Hastings, DEEPS Chair and leader of the Breathe Providence Project, joined the Possibly Podcast to talk about fireworks and their impact on the environment and our health.

Following two powerful earthquakes that recently shook northern Venezuela, rescue teams have been racing to pull survivors from the rubble. For those trapped, experts say that survival depends on many factors, including weather and access to water and air. DEEPS Professor Victor Tsai commented on the factors that affect earthquake survival, noting that trapped victims are more likely to survive if they're able to wait in a debris-free pocked, called a "survivable void space."

Following the DEM's two-year Air Toxic Study, South Providence residents are advocating for a plan to address the air pollution in the area. Professor Meredith Hastings, the Breathe Providence project leader, commented on the air quality, saying, "We know there’s a lot of bad stuff in the air. Sometimes it’s illegal. It’s definitely cancer-causing.” Linda Perri, head of the Washington Park Neighborhood Association, told City Council members and planners, “We need to have a say in how the growth is going to happen, especially because we breathe the air and we live in the shadow of the port.”

In a recent publication, former DEEPS postdoc Lily Dove and team investigate upper ocean vertical velocities by using high resolution sea surface height observations collected by the Surface Water and Ocean Topography altimeter along with interior hydrographic measurements from ocean gliders. "This analysis is a step towards generating temporally-varying vertical tracer fluxes for the circumpolar Southern Ocean."

Local residents and researchers are working together in a community-led effort called "WaterSpeak" to test the air, water and soil in the Port of Providence. DEEPS Assistant Professor Mara Freilich has partnered with the People’s Port Authority, a grassroots environmental organization, to help community scientist investigate questions to understand how pollution is affecting the community. The team also plans collaborate with Breathe Providence, a research team at Brown University that tracks neighborhood air quality across the city, including along Allens Avenue.

The new Campus Geology Field Guide invites users to explore Brown University's campus through a geological lens by learning basic rock types, uncovering campus history, or diving deeper into mineral identification. This free resource was organized by DEEPS graduate students Hannah Shabtian and Emily Fischer, and researched by their Brown Pre-College course as a hands-on exploration of geology and science communication.

When water erupts on the ocean moons of Jupiter and Saturn, it could freeze into fluffy ice with the texture of a croissant, presenting a hazard for future lander missions. “If the surface is really covered with this type of highly porous, fragile water ice, that would definitely pose some serious engineering issues,” says Ingrid Daubar, a DEEPS Associate Professor of Research and a scientist on NASA’s Europa Clipper orbiter mission. “We’d have to re-envision the types of landing mechanisms we thought might work on Europa.”

Assistant Professor Mara Freilich's project is one of six cross-disciplinary projects to receive an award in the second year of Scialog: Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems. This Scialog initiative was launched to spur novel interdisciplinary research into the complex processes behind neurobiological adaptation to stressors like exposure to pollution, toxins, and increasingly unpredictable environments.

DEEPS is proud to present our newest Lincoln Field Art Show, "FOLIATION." This series of tufted-rug tapestries are created by Ian Haut '26, inspired by remote sensing satellite images of Earth and planetary features.

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences joins Brown University in celebrating the achievements of the graduating class of 2026. Here we will be sharing an expanded version of our Commencement Program, listing the accomplishments of our new graduates, photos of the event, and other resources.

The off-planet idea called bioARK is designed to create a self-sustaining lunar settlement using algae. The proposal received honorable mention from the Aurelia Institute Prize in Design for Space Urbanism. “Moving beyond the cradle will require an all-of-life effort: humans cannot leave Earth without life-sustaining microbial biomes,” according to the submission by Lynn Rothschild, a NASA Ames Research Center scientist, James Head III, a Brown University research professor, and Christopher Maurer, an architect at redhouse studio architecture.

Student researcher Emma Blankstein recently joined the Possibility Team to talk about "Breathe Providence", a research team at Brown that tracks air quality in Providence neighborhoods by asking neighbors to track what they smell in an effort to better understand air pollution in Rhode Island.

A recent study lead by former DEEPS Postdoc Eva Golos found small amounts of partially melted rock at the lower boundary of the lithosphere in the Southwestern United States. “Understanding these processes will help scientists figure out where geologic hazards are high, and where to focus on hazard mitigation,” Golos told The Brown Daily Herald.

This year, DEEPS undergraduates traveled to Texas and Southern New Mexico for the annual 2026 Spring Break Field Trip. Guided by Assistant Professor Sam Birch, their geologic journey included exploring Big Ben National Part, traversing the White Sands gypsum dunes of New Mexico, and much more. Enjoy these photos from their exciting and educational adventure!

As NASA’s Artemis II was in the middle of its epic sling around the moon, DEEPS Professor James Head and John “Jack’’ Mustard spoke with the Boston Globe about the revolutionary science of the mission. From live meteoroid impact flashes to ancient far-side lava flows, scientists anticipate groundbreaking discoveries from Artemis’s unprecedented lunar observations.

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

In a student opinion piece, Clara Murray '29 shares her experience with Brown courses, advocating for the value of learning experiences beyond the classroom. "Courses in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences provide a great model for this kind of education," she writes. "Before the [EEPS 0220 field trip], I struggled to understand sediment deposition and quartz formation within a textbook or lecture, but these concepts made much more sense when I could see quartz layered within the rocky outcroppings..."

In a recent Nature publication, DEEPS alum Lorenzo A. Davidson '24, undergraduate Constance M. Erdozain, Professor Emanuele Di Lorenzo and team explore key factors impacting the migration of juvenile North Pacific albacore tuna. Using electronic tagging data and an individual-based model (IBM), the researchers demonstrate that mixed layer depth has a pivotal role in influencing albacore migration timing and depth preferences. "These findings highlight the relevance of subsurface ocean conditions to the movement of highly migratory species and demonstrate the utility of IBMs in the study of complex migratory behaviors."

DEEPS is proud to announce that Department Chair and George Ide Chase Professor of Physical Sciences Meredith Hastings is this year's recipient of the Meenakshi Narain Excellence in Research Mentoring (ERM) Award.

In this new study, DEEPS graduate student Manuel Justin Custado examines the authorship of climate science research in South East Asia, offering a valuable lens into who is funding, writing, and accessing climate science for this highly impacted region. "Quantifying these patterns can provide insights into key challenges and opportunities regarding the participation of local researchers in SEA climate science."

DEEPS Professor Victor Tsai spoke with NPR's Short Wave podcast about "lake stars," the dark spidery, star-shaped patterns that can form in ice, and how he became the first person to scientifically prove how they form. Plus, he explains how knowing more about lake stars can potentially give us clues about the presence of water on Europa, one of Jupiter's icy moons.

Three DEEPS graduate students have created a Field Preparedness Guide, a fillable brochure and informative guide to help support safe, productive, and fun field experiences for undergraduate and graduate students.

In this video, DEEPS Chair Meredith Hastings (George Ide Chase Professor of Physical Sciences and Professor of Environment and Society), and Jesus Holguin, Executive Director and Programming Steward of the Racial & Environmental Justice Committee in Providence, speak powerfully to their experience building a research collaboration grounded in shared power and ownership, trusting relationships, and knowledge held by communities as well as academics.