We use field and geophysical observations, elemental and isotopic analyses, high-pressure experiments, and numerical models to investigate the evolution of the Earth. Research topics include: recent climate reconstruction, glacial-interglacial cycling, the rise of oxygen in the atmosphere, growth of the continents, and cooling of the Earth’s interior. Our community seeks to integrate observations and models of diverse phenomena across different timescales to understand how and why the Earth’s climate, life, and interior have interacted and varied over our planet’s history.
Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences
Earth History
Investigating how the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, surface, and interior have changed through time to understand fundamentally important climatic, tectonic, and biogeochemical changes.
Earth History
Investigating how the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, surface, and interior have changed through time to understand fundamentally important climatic, tectonic, and biogeochemical changes.
Faculty
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Steven Clemens
Professor (Research) -
Kim Cobb
Director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Professor -
Meredith Hastings
Professor -
Tim Herbert
Professor -
Blake Hodgin
Assistant Professor (Research) -
Yongsong Huang
Professor -
Daniel Ibarra
Manning Assistant Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences and Environment and Society -
Harriet Lau
Assistant Professor -
Jung-Eun Lee
Associate Professor -
Ralph Milliken
Associate Professor -
Stephen Parman
Associate Professor -
James Russell
Royce Family Professor in Teaching Excellence & Chair -
Alberto Saal
Professor
Facilities and Resources
DEEPS is equipped with cutting-edge instrumentation to support and advance ongoing research into the Earth's evolution.
Earth History News
A new study shows vascular plants may have contributed to shaping Earth’s atmosphere long before trees evolved. DEEPS Assistant Professor Daniel Ibarra, who was not involved in the study, is quoted saying “It would be interesting to see this method applied to the whole time series from the Devonian to our time.”
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In a WFLA interview, IBES Director & DEEPS Professor Kim Cobb discusses marine limestone as a climate proxy. “The corals that I work with in the middle of the Pacific Ocean are as good, if not better than the temperature records from satellites.”
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News from Brown
Researchers uncover secrets on how Alaska’s Denali Fault formed
A study by Brown researchers finds that changes in tectonic plate thickness across the Denali Fault in Alaska impact where it is located, shedding light on how major faults and earthquakes occur.
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