PAOC Spotlights

Addressing the Possibility of Life on Mars

Mars expert John Grotzinger tells the story of exploration and the search for ancient life on the red planet at the 2018 Carlson Lecture.

MIT-WHOI Joint Program Marks 50th Year

Unorthodox partnership remains an educational ‘jewel’

Understanding the Chaotic Nature of Weather

A short documentary examining the legacy of famed MIT meteorologist and mathematician Edward N. Lorenz.

Can We Improve Monsoon Forecasts?

The ocean may be the key to better forecasting hard-to-predict monsoons, explains graduate student Gualtiero Spiro Jaeger.

Studying the Hotbed of Horizontal Gene Transfers

Global Microbiome Conservancy’s preliminary results reveal new insights into human gut microbiomes and early climate.

The 2018 PAOC Retreat: MIT Endicott House

The 2018 PAOC retreat, hosted at the MIT Endicott House in Dedham, MA, gave students and faculty a chance to socialize and relax before the start of the semester.

Journey to the Bottom of the Sea

Graduate student Chawalit Charoenpong writes about his first dive to the seafloor in search of ingredients that may have sparked life on Earth.

How Earth Sheds Heat into Space

New insights into the role of water vapor may help researchers predict how the planet will respond to warming.

Who's Who? Who's New?

A chance to catch up with recent comings, goings and promotions in EAPS since the end of spring.

The Unseen World on Coral Reefs

A hidden microbiome underlies health of reef ecosystems.

The MIT-WHOI Joint Program Celebrates its 50th Anniversary

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (MIT-WHOI JP).

How Phytoplankton Survive in Ocean Gyres with Low Nutrient Supplies

Model of nutrient recycling may explain longstanding mystery.

Congratulations to Simons Postdoctoral Fellow B.B. Cael

B.B. Cael, a graduate student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, has been awarded one of nine 2018 Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Marine Microbial Ecology.

De Wit and TRAPPIST-1 Science Team Receive NASA Award

EAPS congratulates Assistant Professor of Planetary Sciences Julien de Wit and his colleagues from the TRAPPIST-1 Science Team for earning a NASA Group Achievement Award.

Selin named director of the MIT Technology and Policy Program

Selin will spearhead the master's program for students whose research addresses societal challenges at the intersection of technology and policy.

The Recipe for a Harmful Algal Bloom

Many ingredients mix in the ocean to make toxic shellfish.

O’Gorman Awarded 2018 School of Science Teaching Prize

EAPS Associate Professor, Paul O'Gorman, is honored for excellence in graduate teaching.

ASTERIA Measures Exoplanet Transit - A First for CubeSats

This observation demonstrates proof-of-concept, that small spacecraft can perform high precision photometry.

Jimmy Gasore Receives the 2018 Rossby Award

The prize is given for the best PhD thesis done the preceding year within PAOC.

Gateway to Antarctica

PAOC and Summons lab member Emily Matys searches around the globe to reveal the secrets of microbial life

Description and Evaluation of the MIT Earth System Model (MESM)

Results from the latest version of MESM compare favorably with those produced by more computationally intensive models.

Study Finds Climate Determines Shapes of River Basins

Results may help identify ancient climates on Earth or other planets.

Putting the microbiome on the map

Global Microbiome Conservancy scales up

Solving Microbial Mysteries with Autonomous Technology

Biogeochemical oceanographer Andrew Babbin and members of his group are leading a three-week research cruise aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor. They are studying the nitrogen cycle in one of the largest natural marine oxygen...

Julien de Wit Begins MIT Faculty Appointment

He joins the EAPS department, bringing new perspectives to planetary science, astronomy and the hunt for exoplanets.