Current Research

Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences: Course 12

Welcome to the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, informally known as EAPS. From the inaccessible depths of the terrestrial interior to the vast reaches of our galaxy, our planet and the natural systems surrounding it provide important clues to the course of our future. At EAPS, we examine the history and interactions of these systems in order to predict future events and states with greater accuracy.

EAPS is vigorous and dynamic, uniting faculty and students in the quest to solve real world problems through the application of physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. Our work encompasses elements of geology, geochemistry, geophysics, geobiology, atmospheric science, climate, oceanography, astronomy, and planetary science. EAPS operates world- class research programs in all of these disciplines. Strong student involvement in each area is sought through UROP. The Department is eager to involve as many undergraduates as possible in its research programs, either for credit or pay.

Our annual award of the Christopher Goetze Prize exemplifies our commitment to Undergraduate research. All EAPS UROP students are eligible and are encouraged to submit their research for consideration. Contact Vicki McKenna in the EAPS Education Office, vsm@mit.edu, for more information.

Some Related Areas for UROPs

Center for Global Change Science, Haystack Observatory, Millstone Hill UHF Radar Facility,, and Wallace Astrophysical Observatory

Faculty Research Descriptions

Prof. Richard Binzel, 54-418, x3-6486, rpb@mit.edu

Planetary astronomy; collisional evolution of asteroids; physical parameters and surface features o the Pluto-Charon system.

Prof. Tanya Bosak, E25-649, x4-3959, tbosak@mit.edu

Microbial sediments throughout geologic time as indicators of biological processes and environmental conditions. Morphological and chemical biosignatures, early Earth, astrobiology.

Prof. Samuel Bowring, 54-1124, x3-3775, sbowring@mit.edu

Origin and evolution of continental lithosphere using radiogenic isotopes. U-Pb geochronology of orogenic bels. Early history of the Earth. Rift magmatism with emphasis on the Baikal and Rio Grande rifts.

Prof. Edward Boyle, E25-619, x3-3388, eaboyle@mit.edu

Paleoceanography and paleoclimatology; variability of the chemical composition of seawater; trace element chemistry of seawater, rivers, and estuaries.

Prof. Kerri Cahoy, 37-367, 3-5199, kcahoy@mit.edu

Spacecraft radio systems to study atmospheres and ionospheres of Solar System planets (including studying Earth with GPS signals). Space-based instrumentation, including cameras, telescopes, and coronagraphs, to search for and characterize exoplanets, planets around other stars.

Prof. Dan Cziczo, 54-1324, x4-4882, djcziczo@mit.edu

Chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols with an emphasis on their effect on cloud formation mechanisms, Earth's radiative budget, and meteoritic debris and launch vehicle emissions in the atmosphere.

Prof. Kerry Emanuel, E54-1620, x3-2462, emanuel@texmex.mit.edu

Relationship between cumulus convection and larger-scale circulations; parametric representation of convection in large-scale weather forecast and climate models, the Hadley circulation, mesoscale dynamics of fronts and cyclones, tropical cyclone dynamics.

Prof. Brian Evans, 54-718, x3-2856, brievans@mit.edu

Strength of rocks; the effect of fluids and impurities on strength; recrystallization and grain growth; microstructures of naturally deformed rocks; applications of rock mechanics of tectonic problems; interrelationships of porosity, permeability, and plastic flow.

Prof. Raffaele Ferrari, 54-1420, x3-1291, raffaele@mit.edu

Turbulence in the ocean and atmosphere using a combination of theory, models and observations. Dynamics of the ocean surface mixed layer. Internal waves. Mixing processes. The role of the ocean in climate.

Prof. Glen Flierl, 54-1426, x3-4692, glenn@pimms.mit.edu

Investigations of the physical and biological dynamics in the ocean and other more general problems in geophysical fluid dynamics.

Prof. Frederick A. Frey, 54-1226, x3-2818, fafrey@mit.edu

Origin and evolution of igneous rocks, upper mantle composition and processes.

Dr. Michael Follows,  54-1514,  x3-5939,  mick@ocean.mit.edu

Biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients in the ocean;  use of numerical models to understand the combination of physical transport, chemical and biological processes that determine the distributions and fluxes of these elements in the ocean.

Prof. Timothy Grove, 54-1220, x3-2878, tlgrove@mit.edu

Igneous petrology; magma generation processes in island arc-continental setting and mi-ocean ridges; crystal growth and nucleation; phase transition in mineral; diffusion in crystalline solids and silicate melts; thermal histories of geologic materials.

Prof. Bradford Hager, 54-622, x3-0216,bhhager@mit.edu

The physics of geologic processes, numerical modeling of mantle convection in terrestrial planets; numerical modeling of crustal deformation; GPS geodesy.

Prof. Colette Heald, 48-335, 617-324-5666, heald@mit.edu

Global atmospheric composition and chemistry, and interactions of these with the biosphere and climate system, including the study of both particles and gases in the troposphere, their sources, sinks, transformations, long range transport and environmental impacts.

Prof. Thomas Herring, 54-820A, x3-5941, tah@mit.edu

Techniques of space geodesy, including Very Lon Baseline interferometry and the sue of the Global Positioning System; surface deformations related to plate tectonics and plate boundary zones; effects of whole-Earth dynamics on the nutation series.

Dr. Lodovica Illari,  54-1612,  x3-2286,  illari@mit.edu

Large-scale atmospheric dynamics and synoptic meteorology;  responsible for the synoptic laboratory.

Prof. Oliver Jagoutz, 54-1018, x4-5514, jagoutz@mit.edu

Field related studies of igneous processes; crust mantle interaction; formation and evolution of the oceanic and continental lithosphere.

Prof. Richard S. Lindzen, 54-1720, x3-2432, rlindzen@mit.edu

Atmospheric waves and instabilities, general circulation of the atmosphere, climate dynamics, planetary atmospheres.

Prof. Alison Malcom, 54-522, x4-1974, amalcolm@mit.edu

Wave propagation in complicated media; seismic imaging in the shallow Earth; locating buried resources (primarily oil and gas); applications of microlocal analysis in imaging; nonlinear wave propagation; exploiting information in multiply scattered waves to infer Earth properties.

Prof. John Marshall, 54-1526, x3-9615, marshall@gulf.mit.edu

Dynamics and causes of the general circulation of the atmosphere and ocean; thermocline theory; geostrophic eddies; global-scale ocean modeling.

Prof. David McGee, E25-625, 617-324-3545, davidmcg@mit.edu

Paleoclimate; uranium and thorium isotopes to quantify accumulation rates in an effort to understand changes in the emission and transport of dust from the world’s drylands; in speleothems and lake carbonates, uranium and thorium provide precise and accurate dating of changes in water balance and precipitation source.

Prof. F. Dale Morgan, 54-1824 , x3-7857, morgan@erl.mit.edu

Rock physics; geoelectromagnetism; inverse methods; applied seismology; environmental geophysics.

Prof. Paul O'Gorman, 54-1616, x2-3382, pog@mit.edu

Large-scale circulation of the atmosphere; interactions of moisture and baroclinic eddies; effect of climate changes on the hydrological cycle; turbulence closure theories.

Prof. Shuhei Ono, E25-641, x3-0474, sono@mit.edu

Isotope biogeochemistry of sulfur and oxygen, water-rock-microbe interactions, seafloor hydrothermal deposits, deep biosphere, global sulfur cycles.

Prof. Taylor Perron, 54-1022, x3-5735, perron@mit.edu

Measurement and modeling of physical processes that shape the surfaces of planets; river networks; biotic effects on landscape evolution; volatile cycling on Mars and Titan.

Prof. Alan Plumb, 54-1726, x3-6281, rap@rossby.mit.edu

Eddy transport processes in the atmosphere and ocean; dynamics of the stratosphere and mesosphere and their interaction with the lower atmosphere; large-scale tropospheric dynamics.

Prof. Ronald G. Prinn, 54-1312, x3-2452, rprinn@mit.edu

Chemical-dynamical models of the atmosphere; measurement and modeling of the long-lived gases involved in the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion; atmospheric chemistry of carbon and sulfur compounds; integrated global system modeling that couples atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial physics, chemistry and biology.

Dr. Srinivas (Sai) Ravela, 54-1624, x3-5938, ravela@mit.edu

Applied topics: Computational Intelligence for Understanding Earth Systems, Quantifying Risk from Natural Hazards, Prediction and Predictability, Ecological Informatics, Environmental Robotics, Environmental Sensor Networks and Experimental Fluid Dynamics. Core areas: Signal & Image Processing, Nonlinear Dynamics, Pattern Recognition, Estimation, Control and Inference.

Dr. Robert Reilinger, 54-326 , x3-7860, reilinge@erl.mit.edu

Active research projects involve using space geodetic observations, particularly the Global Positioning Systems, to monitor present-day motions and deformations in tectonically active regions. Ongoing projects include the Mediterranean, Caucasus Mountains, Middle East, and southern California/northern Baja, Mexico.

Prof. Paola M. Rizzoli, 54-1416, x3-2451, rizzoli@ocean.mit.edu

Numerical modeling of the ocean general circulation with data assimilation with applications to the tropical Atlantic ocean, tropical/subtropical interactions, tropical instability waves and the coupled ocean-atmosphere modes; assimilation of oceanographic data into ocean numerical models through ensemble approaches and optimal design of fixed and adaptive observations arrays; physical-biochemical modeling of the Black Sea ecosystem.

Dr. William Rodi, 54-514, x3-7855, rodi@erl.mit.edu

Development of geophysical inversion methods. Prototyping software for testing new approaches to seismic tomography, source location and other geophysical inverse problems. Applying data processing and inversion algorithms to seismic and electromagnetic data.

Prof. Daniel H. Rothman, 54-626, x3-7861, dhr@mit.edu, http://segovia.mit.edu/

Theoretical geophyscis. Models of complex natural systems, tied as closely as possible to experimental and observational data. Problems of interest range from geobiological evolution to the dynamics of fluids, rocks, and sand.

Prof. Leigh Royden, 54-826 , x3-1292, lhroyden@mit.edu

Regional geology and geophysics, plate tectonics, thermal effects and consequences of continental deformation, mechanics of large-scale continental deformation; continental extensions and sedimentary basin formation; uplift and erosion in mountain belts.

Prof. Sara Seager, 54-1626, x3-6775, seager@mit.edu

Finding and characterizing Earth-like exoplanets. Theoretical models of atmospheres, interiors, and biosignatures of all kinds of exoplanets. Astrobiology.

Prof. Sang-Heon (Dan) Shim, 54-514, x4-0249, sangshim@mit.edu

The physical properties and crystal structures of material at high pressures and temperatures; their application to global-scale structures; and dynamics of the Earth and planetary interiors.

Prof. Roger Summons, E25-633, x2-2791, rsummons@mit.edu

Lipid chemistry of microbes, early biotic and environmental evolution, extinction and radiation events in Earth history, biogeochemical fossils, petroleum, astrobiology.

Prof. Robert D. Van der Hilst, 54-526, x3-6977, hilst@mit.edu

Seismic tomograpy, studies of the Earth’s structure with emphasis on the mantle beneath convergent plate boundaries; tectonic evolution of subduction systems; mantle dynamics; structure and evolution of continental lithosphere; field studies with portable seismometers.

Prof. Ben Weiss, 54-814, x4-0224, bpweiss@mit.edu

Paleomagnetic studies of rocks from Mars, the Moon, and Earth; dynamo evolution, planetary histories and geobiology; use and development of SQUID microscopy for paleomagnetism.

Prof. Jack Wisdom, 54-414, x3-7730, wisdom@mit.edu

Planetary dynamics, long-term evolution of the solar system, stability of planetary systems, dynamics of planetary rings.

Prof. Carl Wunsch, 54-1520, x3-5937, cwunsch@mit.edu

Physical Oceanography, estimating the time varying ocean circulation by combining global general circulation models and the recently available global data sets. The group is also applying modern dynamical and statistical understanding to the study of paleoclimate on all time scales.

Prof. Maria T. Zuber, 54-518, x3-6397, mtz@mit.edu

Theoretical modeling of geophysical processes; analysis of altimetry, gravity and tectonics to determine the structure and dynamics of the Earth and solid planets; development and implementation of spacecraft laser and radio tracking experiments.