PAOC Spotlights

A Tunnel to the Twilight Zone

Blue sharks ride deep-swirling currents to the ocean’s midwater at mealtime

Tuna are Spawning in Marine Protected Areas

Despite being highly migratory, tuna may benefit from ocean sanctuaries, study finds.

Health Effects of China’s Climate Policy Extend Across Pacific

Improved air quality could prevent nearly 2,000 premature deaths in the U.S.

Breaching a “Carbon Threshold” Could Lead to Mass Extinction

Carbon dioxide emissions may trigger a reflex in the carbon cycle, with devastating consequences, study finds.

The Wolf of Washington

EAPS graduate student Martin Wolf advocates for science policy in Washington, D.C.

Charting Uncharted Territory

With the Follows group, CBIOMES makes new connections to fill in the knowledge gaps in ocean biogeochemistry.

NASA Makes Dual Investment in Ocean Worlds Research at WHOI

Agency funds five-year effort to understand the potential for life in outer solar system and establishes a new Network for Ocean Worlds. Collaborator EAPS professor and oceanographer John Marshall is working with the team looking at ice moons.

Julien de Wit on Searching for Red Worlds in the Northern Skies

MIT has completed the installation of its newest exoplanet-hunting telescope, Artemis, in the Canary Islands, joining the SPECULOOS network.

Congratulations to EAPS Class of 2019

Degrees awarded during the 2018/2019 academic year. Degrees are conferred in September, February and June.

An Escape Route for Carbon

Study shows minerals sequester carbon for thousands of years, which may explain oxygen’s abundance in the atmosphere.

The Story of a Numerical Modeler Wandering into the Arctic

EAPS graduate student Mukund Gupta takes to the seas.

The Color of Climate Change

EAPS oceanographers model how climate change will affect phytoplankton, a crucial component of the global ecosystem.

Norman A. Phillips, former meteorology department head, dies at 95

A pioneer in theoretical meteorology, Phillips demonstrated that numerical models could predict the weather and developed the first general circulation model of Earth’s climate.

Tropical Pacific is the major player in global ocean heat transport

A recent study authored by Gael Forget demonstrates the overwhelming predominance of the tropical Pacific on global ocean heat transport.

Celebrating Graduate Women of Excellence

EAPS graduate students Christina Hernandez, Gabriela Serrato Marks, and Maya Stokes honored for their leadership, contributions to the institute, and outstanding accomplishment.

Study: For Low-Income Countries, Climate Action Pays Off by 2050

Economic benefits of mitigation arrive much sooner than previously thought.

Tracking Radium in the Arctic

A conversation with Jessica Dabrowski, second-year graduate student in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program, who recently travelled to the Arctic to study the impact of climate change.

A Steward for Ocean Research and Climate Health

Raffaele Ferrari honored with School of Science Ally of Nature Fund Award.

TESS Discovers its First Earth-Sized Planet

Orbiting a nearby star, the new planet is the smallest identified so far by the TESS mission.

Earliest Life may have Arisen in Ponds, not Oceans

Study finds shallow bodies of water were probably more suitable for Earth’s first life forms.

In Exchange of Ideas

The MIT-Imperial Academic Exchange offers undergraduates like Matthew Cotton a chance to expand their cultural and scientific interests.

Podcast: Kerry Emanuel on the science of hurricanes

Scientists predict that hurricanes will hit us harder in the future—but why? Kerry Emanuel breaks down the science in this episode of #TILclimate.

Lighting up Exoplanets

The Heising-Simons Foundation selects Clara Sousa-Silva and Benjamin Rackham for 51 Pegasi b Fellowships at MIT.

Babbin, Rothman, Bosak, and Woosley Awarded mTerra Catalyst Funding

PAOC members forge new pathways in oceanic and atmospheric research.

Leading The Way

In honor of Women’s History Month, three prominent female scientists who made departmental history.