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
-
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
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
DEEPS PhD students Brianna Hoegler and Jared Nirenberg, with the support of hundreds of fellow scientists, have written a letter to the National Science Foundation expressing their concerns regarding the future of scientific ocean drilling research. The letter is published in AGU Perspectives, and garnered signatures from nearly three hundred scientists, a majority being early career scientists.
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DEEPS Professor Timothy D. Herbert spoke with Times Evoke about sea sediments, uncovering secrets of ancient Earth and climate change.
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Simulations produced by a Brown-led research team offer evidence that Venus once had plate tectonics — a finding that opens the door for the possibility of early life on the planet and insights into its history.
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