Dept. of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences

It has been a landmark weekend here in Bloomington: @iuearth.bsky.social has released the first-ever weather balloons at IU! Part of our contribution, led by Prof. Travis O'Brien, to the Atmospheric River Reconnaissance project to better understand extreme rainfall in the U.S.

Main Header Section Top Left Badge: NEW COURSE! Course Title: FIELD EXPERIMENTS IN GEOSCIENCE: WEATHER BALLOONS Course Details: * EAS X498 COURSE #35758 2nd-8 WEEKS STARTING MARCH 10th 3 CREDITS Course Description (Left Column) In this course, you will: Participate in nationwide weather balloon launches to measure local atmospheric profiles Gain hands-on experience analyzing weather balloon (radiosonde) data Construct your own weather maps for the contiguous United States and learn the fundamentals of atmospheric dynamics Logistics and Instructors (Right Column) FIELD WORK: Participating in 10 balloon launches @ IU Campus LECTURES: Analyzing weather balloon data @ GY 2064 TR 11:00–12:25 INSTRUCTORS: * Ginny Gong (Lecture & Field) Travis O’Brien, Cody Kirkpatrick (Field) Footer Branding Left: [IU Trident Logo] EARTH AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES Right: SAVE YOUR SEAT.

Students: it's happening! Coming in the second half of this semester, for the first time at IU, weather balloon launches! Course flyer attached -- although registration for course credit is not required to participate. (Reach out to us if you'd like to participate but outside of the course.)

Strain Rates Along the Alpine‐Himalayan Belt From a Comprehensive GNSS Velocity Field We build a comprehensive GNSS velocity field for the Alpine-Himalayan belt, including over 11,000 horizontal velocities We estimate strain rates and posterior uncertainties in the eastern Mediter...

New research by graduate student and lead author @ncperdomo.bsky.social, integrating multiple published satellite GPS datasets to map crustal deformation and strain rates across the entire Alpine-Himalayan Belt. agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

Research on cascading natural disaster hazards helps communities plan ahead for weather threats As natural disasters increase in frequency and strength, so does a phenomenon known as cascading hazards. Brian Yanites studies these hazards in order to ...

In the news at IU: Dr. Brian Yanites (@geomorphyuggs.bsky.social) is a principal investigator in the new Center for Land Surface Hazards, sponsored by NSF. Press release and more details: news.iu.edu/live/news/46...

Cascading land surface hazards as a nexus in the Earth system This Review synthesizes progress and outlines a new framework for understanding how land surface hazards interact and propagate as sediment cascades across Earth’s surface, influenced by interactions ...

New in @science.org: Natural hazards aren’t “one and done.” They alter the landscape, changing the likelihood of follow-on events. We argue there’s an urgent opportunity for geomorphologists—working with other disciplines—to better understand and forecast cascading hazards.

Cascading land surface hazards as a nexus in the Earth system This Review synthesizes progress and outlines a new framework for understanding how land surface hazards interact and propagate as sediment cascades across Earth’s surface, influenced by interactions ...

We're in @science.org! Prof. @geomorphyuggs.bsky.social and colleagues with a review paper on the processes that influence sequences of "cascading" natural hazards (such as debris flows and flooding after a fire), which compound the risk to life and property. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Assessing changes in atmospheric rivers under stratospheric aerosol injection using ARISE-SAI-1.5 - IOPscience Assessing changes in atmospheric rivers under stratospheric aerosol injection using ARISE-SAI-1.5, Quagraine, Kwesi Twentwewa, O'Brien, Travis Allen, Quagraine, Kwesi A, Kravitz, Ben, Tilmes, Simone

Recent research from newly-defended Dr. Kwesi Quagraine, Profs. Travis O'Brien and Ben Kravitz, and colleagues: how might atmospheric rivers and their impacts be altered as a result of changes in solar radiation? iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Professor’s African dig uncovers bone tools that offer insights on early human life For two decades, Jackson Njau has been conducting paleoanthropologist research at the Olduvai Gorge. His recent bone tool discovery has pushed back histor...

Recently featured in "News at IU": Dr. Jackson Njau and colleagues, and their field work to study the origins of human life at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. news.iu.edu/live/news/45...

EAS Colloquium Series: Owen Award, Dr. David Bottjer, USC Join us for talks and discussions on topics in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

On Monday, please join us for our annual Owen Award Lecture, by Dr. David Bottjer from the University of Southern California: "Extinction: Past, Present, and Future." Speaker bio, talk abstract, and location info available at events.iu.edu/eas/event/17...

IU earth scientist’s research into rivers and flooding earns him prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship Douglas Edmonds, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, was selected for the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows. He was one of tw...

Feeling humbled by this award and wanted to share the story from IU News. Im grateful to my @iuearth.bsky.social colleagues and all the students that have worked with me over the years.

news.iu.edu/live/news/45...

Announcing the 2025 Guggenheim Fellows — Guggenheim Fellowships: Supporting Artists, Scholars, & Scientists Since 1925, the Guggenheim Foundation has given Fellowships to exceptional artists, writers, scholars, and scientists, empowering them to pursue meaningful work under the freest possible conditions.

Congratulations to my colleagues Douglas Edmonds (sedimentologist at IU Bloomington) and Larisa DeSantis (vert paleontologist at Vanderbilt) on receiving Guggenheim Fellowships this year. www.gf.org/stories/anno...

IU studies impact of major flooding on topsoil erosion One researcher says some areas in flood plain have lost a foot of topsoil in the last decade.

In the news this week: Prof. @hoosierriver.bsky.social, grad student Garrett O’Hara, and colleagues, measuring the impact of recent floods on Indiana farmland. Story below, from @wthrcom.bsky.social. www.wthr.com/article/news...

EAS Colloquium Series: Dr. Zhiying Li, IU Bloomington Join us for talks and discussions on topics in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Please join us this afternoon for a colloquium by Dr. Zhiying Li of IU's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, speaking on "Assessing Water Resources in a Changing Climate." Speaker bio, talk abstract, and location info available at events.iu.edu/eas/event/17...

Portrait-mode photograph of the sky during a total solar eclipse. A few street and building lights on at the bottom, otherwise the horizon is deep orange and fades to black at the top. Photographer: Danielle Peltier.

Eclipse glasses with the IU EAS logo on them, on a red tablecloth with black mesh bag in the background. Photo by Cody Kirkpatrick.

Photo of the IU Geological Sciences street sign in front of a total solar eclipse sky. The eclipsed sun is in between a couple of tree branches at the top. Photo by Cody Kirkpatrick.

Photo of a solar eclipse sky from a remote camera behind the Indiana Geological and Water Survey Building. Buildings are lit up at the bottom, and the fisheye lens shows the eclipsed sun at the top. Photo courtesy IGWS.

A year ago today, we were treated to a total solar eclipse here in Bloomington. Photos from our big day, from graduate student @paleodanny.bsky.social (1), faculty member @codykirkp.bsky.social (2,3), and an instrumented tower set up by the Indiana Geological and Water Survey (4).

EAS Tudor Lecture: Dr. Diego Melgar, University of Oregon Join us for talks and discussions on topics in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Please join us on Monday (7th) for our annual Tudor Lecture, featuring Dr. Diego Melgar from the University of Oregon. He'll speak about the modeling and paleoseismology of Cascadia earthquakes. Abstract, speaker bio, and location info at events.iu.edu/eas/event/17...

New paper from Sierra Lopezalles of the Polly Lab group: Lopezalles SM. Leveraging functional morphology to increase accuracy of body-mass estimation: a study using canids. Paleobiology. Published online 2025:1-13. doi:10.1017/pab.2025.1
doi.org/10.1017/pab....

Direct effects of mountain uplift and topography on biodiversity Biodiversity hotspots in Earth’s mountain ranges suggest a strong connection between topographic development and biological processes. However, it remains unclear whether high biodiversity in mountain...

Our paper on how landscape evolution impacts the trajectory of life is out in @science.org! Work by two great post-docs in @iuearth.bsky.social and collaboration with the brilliant Tara Smiley of Stony Brook resulted in this.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

EAS Colloquium Series: Dr. Luke Parsons, The Nature Conservancy Join us for talks and discussions on topics in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

This week is spring break on the Bloomington campus, but do plan to join us on Monday (24th) for our next colloquium. Dr. Luke Parsons will speak to us on: "Higher Past and Future Temperatures in Socially Vulnerable US Communities." Talk abstract and location info at events.iu.edu/eas/event/17...

Earth on the Rocks: Hear the Passion Behind the Research What is geoscience? With only two states requiring an earth or environmental science course to graduate high school, most people either don’t know or think it’s just about rocks. “How can we, as a …

Need a new geoscience podcast? Check out my interview with the host of @earthontherocks.bsky.social to learn more and find an episode!
speakingofgeoscience.org/2025/03/03/e...

This Week in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences - March 10, 2025. EAS Colloquium by Dr. Anastasia Pilouras, Penn State University. The role of Arctic deltas in controlling land-ocean fluxes. 3:30 p.m., Geological Sciences Building, IGWS 2022.

Join us *this afternoon* for our colloquium speaker, Dr. Anastasia Pilouras, of Penn State: "The Role of Arctic Deltas in Controlling Land-Ocean Fluxes." Location info, talk abstract, and more at events.iu.edu/eas/event/17...

EAS Colloquium Series, Monday, March 3, 2025. 3:30 p.m., Geological Sciences 2022. "Hunting for Fossil Silicic Magma Reservoirs in the Geologic Record." Dr. Mike Eddy, Assistant Professor, Geology and Geophysics, Purdue University. Host: Dr. Andrea Stevens Goddard.

Join us for our colloquium on Monday (March 3rd), with Dr. Mike Eddy from Purdue: "Hunting for Fossil Silicic Magma Reservoirs in the Geologic Record." Talk abstract, speaker bio, and location info available at events.iu.edu/eas/event/17...

Screenshot of fall 2025 100-level courses being taught in the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences. EAS-E 103 Earth Science: Materials And Processes EAS-E 104 Evolution Of The Earth EAS-E 105 Earth: Our Habitable Planet EAS-E 114 Dinosaurs And Their Relatives EAS-E 121 Origin And Evolution Of Mars And Rocky Planetary Bodies EAS-E 131 Oceans And Our Global Environment EAS-E 141 Earthquakes And Volcanoes EAS-E 144 Extreme Weather And Its Impacts

IU students, the fall '25 schedule has been published. If you're looking for a 100-level "gen ed" science course, we have eight scheduled. We have in-person and online options (and upper-division electives, not shown below). Come learn about earth, its environment, and its atmosphere!

New paper by grad student Caitlin Sifuentes, recent graduate Harrison Martin, and Prof. Doug Edmonds and colleagues: numerical modeling of how river channels and floodplains evolve, and how they can affect the underlying rock:
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/jsedres...

Earth and Atmospheric Science Seminar Series Spring 2025. All are welcome to our EAS-research seminar series. Come and listen to undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, and faculty describe their research projects. This is a great opportunity to learn about Earth and Atmospheric Science research and perhaps find a project for yourself! Geological Sciences Building, Patton Room 2022, 3:30 p.m., Monday, February 24.

In our regular colloquium slot on Monday (24th), we'll have almost 20 graduate students share updates on their work in a series of 1-2 minute lightning talks. Come join us: location info and speaker list available at events.iu.edu/eas/event/17...

Moving beyond post hoc explainable artificial intelligence: a perspective paper on lessons learned from dynamical climate modeling Abstract. AI models are criticized as being black boxes, potentially subjecting climate science to greater uncertainty. Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) has been proposed to probe AI models a...

New paper by Prof. Travis O'Brien and colleagues: a perspective on how we can build trust in artificial intelligence (AI) models. gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/...

Fulbright Spotlight: Digging deeper with geologist Juergen Schieber An ongoing collaboration stemming from Juergen Schieber’s Fulbright will help answer questions about the role of sedimentary rocks as hydrocarbon source...

In the news at IU: Fulbright Scholar and Prof. Juergen Schieber talks about his research collaboration with the Institute of Marine Sciences in Milano, Italy. news.iu.edu/live/news/43...

Image with the following text: Soil Gasses: a window into a critical belowground world. Dr. Timothy Gallagher, Assistant Professor, Kent State University. Host: Dr. Julia Kelson. Monday, February 17, 2025, 3:30 p.m., Geological Sciences Building room 2022. Part of the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Colloquium Series.

Join us on Monday (17th) for a colloquium by Dr. Tim Gallagher from Kent State.

Abstract, bio, and location details available at events.iu.edu/eas/event/17...

From the Caribbean to East Africa: IU geologist Claudia Johnson facilitates student exploration through fieldwork As a professor in the Department Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) within the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, Claudia John...

Recently in the news at IU: From the Caribbean to East Africa: Prof. Claudia Johnson facilitates student exploration through fieldwork

news.iu.edu/college/live...