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
George Ide Chase Professor of Physical Sciences, Chair -
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
Senior Associate Dean of Dean of the Faculty, Professor -
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
News from DEEPS
Student Research Stories: Gabriel Traietti
Gabriel Traietti ‘25, concentrating in Geochemistry, investigates the terrestrial paleoclimate of the Congo River Basin in Senior Associate Dean James Russell’s lab. He emphasizes how DEEPS gave him the tools to explore his passion for reconstructing ancient climate to help anticipate the effects of climate change on a local level.
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News from DEEPS
Student Research Stories: Celia Kong-Johnson
Celia Kong-Johnson ’25 is a rising senior studying Geochemistry and Applied Mathematics who works as a research assistant in Assistant Professor Dan Ibarra’s lab, studying past hydroclimate variability in the Philippines. In our fourth Student Research Story, Celia spoke of the friendliness of DEEPS faculty and the department’s welcoming, tight-knit community.
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Geophysical Research Letters
A Mid-Lithospheric Discontinuity Detected Beneath 155 Ma Western Pacific Seafloor Using Sp Receiver Functions
Recent Postdoctoral Research Fellow Kai-Xun Chen has published a new paper in Geophysical Research Letters, titled “Seismic evidence for a mid-lithospheric discontinuity in 155 million-year-old Pacific lithosphere. Consistent with now-frozen melt that was trapped in the young lithosphere close to the ridge.” The publication lays out evidence for a low velocity layer inside old oceanic lithosphere. Dr. Chen completed this research while he was a postdoctoral researcher in DEEPS, working with Prof. Don Forsyth and Prof. Karen Fischer.
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