September 2018 Issue of EAPSpeaks

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018
EAPSpeaks
A monthly digest of department news

Sound Waves Reveal Diamond Cache Deep in Earth’s Interior

New study from EAPS research scientist Ulrich Faul and colleagues reveals 1 to 2 percent of Earth’s oldest mantle rocks are made from diamond—more than a quadrillion tons, hidden 100 miles below the surface.

Big Ocean. Tiny Microbes. Sea Biomes.

Led by Prof. Michael Follows, the new Simons Foundation CBIOMES initiative draws together a multidisciplinary group of U.S. and international investigators, bridging oceanography, statistics, data science, ecology, biogeochemistry, and remote sensing, to study microbial oceanography.

Mark Your Calendar:

MIT-WHOI 50th Anniversary Symposium - click to register
SEPT 27 | WONG AUDITORIUM, MIT
SEPT 28 | WHOI QUISSET CAMPUS

Searching for Life on Mars - click to register
8th Annual John Carlson Lecture featuring John Grotzinger, Caltech
OCT 11 | NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM
SIMONS IMAX THEATER | 7PM

ASTERIA Achieves a CubeSat First

The diminutive satellite demonstrated that small spacecraft can perform high precision photometry by measuring the transit of a previously-discovered exoplanet—earning "Mission of the Year” at the SmallSat conference in August.

Investigating Earth’s Earliest Life

EAPS graduate student Kelsey Moore uses genetic and fossil evidence to study the first stages of evolution on our planet.

De Wit Begins Faculty Appointment

EAPS was delighted to welcome Julien de Wit to the faculty in July. As an assistant professor, de Wit brings new perspectives to planetary science, astronomy, and the hunt for exoplanets.

Prof. Taylor Perron says there could be even more water pockets on Mars, after the recent announcement by Italian researchers that they detected a 12-mile-wide lake under the surface of the red planet.

Grove Awarded AGU Hess Medal

AGU recognizes Prof. Tim Grove for “outstanding achievements in research on the constitution and evolution of the Earth and other planets.”

Kudos!
A roundup of other recent faculty honors

NASA Group Achievement Award for De Wit and TRAPPIST-1 Team

Emanuel Named AGU Fellow

O'Gorman Awarded Teaching Prize by the School of Science

Selin Appointed Director of MIT Technology and Policy Program

MIT-WHOI Joint Program Celebrates 50

The union of the institutions has fostered careers and significant developments in oceanography and applied ocean science and engineering over the past 50 years.

How the Amazon is Capturing Its Neighbor

A new paper by lead author EAPS graduate student Maya Stokes illuminates how the Rio Casiquiare is slowly pirating the entire drainage basin of the world's fourth largest river and delivering it to the Amazon.

Mapping the Microbiome

EAPS Postdoc Ainara Sistiaga and MIT colleagues are working to identify and preserve the biodiversity of the human gut from populations across the globe—with implications for future human health and our understanding of evolutionary processes.

Taylor Perron Named EAPS Associate Department Head

Heartfelt congratulations from all of EAPS to Prof. Perron, who will build upon the work of outgoing Assoc. Department Head Tim Grove in support of the EAPS education mission.

Three EAPS graduate students studying atmospheric science recently participated in a WGBH/NOVA Science Café outreach event to engage the public on the topic of hurricanes and climate change.

watch the video

Want more EAPS News? https://eapsweb.mit.edu/news

The Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at MIT is where scientists of multiple disciplines collaborate to understand the Earth, Planets, Climate, and Origins of Life.

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