Letter from the Head of Department, Rob van der Hilst.


In EAPS, we seek to understand the Earth within the context of our solar system—and the universe beyond—by exploring planetary accretion, magnetic fields, formation of climates and atmospheres, and the potential for life on planets circling distant stars.
Launching in 2018, a new high-earth orbit telescope will keep Sara Seager and her team busy as it scans 200,000 of the nearest, brightest stars for temperate, rocky exoplanets.
Last year Julien de Wit and colleagues discovered a system of seven new exoplanets using a prototype—and now they’re scaling-up the project, building new SPECULOOS telescopes to expand the search for habitable worlds.
With a long and accomplished career as prelude, Richard Binzel is just getting started—with an impressive four new NASA missions set to explore our asteroid neighbors.
In the Weiss paleomagnetism lab, meteorites reveal clues about how—and when—the early solar system formed from a turbulent cloud of dust and gas.
A joint team from EAPS and Massachusetts General Hospital is designing ways to detect and sequence DNA on the neighboring worlds of our own solar system.
We take a look back at Wallace Observatory’s near half-century of teaching and research, and look forward to the view from a new telescope upgrade.
MIT’s Wallace Astrophysical Observatory UROP Student Spotlight.
During his tenure at NASA, Professor Emeritus Gene Simmons’ contributions to the final three Apollo flights went beyond designing experiments to educating the public about the scientific mission, taking us all along for the ride.
Seminal work by EAPS faculty members recognized by the American Geophysical Union, National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, and NASA.
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences faculty continue to earn numerous awards and honors, in recognition of their leadership in their respective fields.
EAPS postdoc Jason Dittmann of the Seager Group is recognized with the generous support of the Heising-Simons Foundation.
A newly-announced capital initiative promises major renovations and new lab space for EAPS and our home in the iconic Green Building.
Meet graduate students geophysicist Ekaterina Bolotskaya, planetary scientist Zhuchang Zhan, geobiologist Jeemin Rhim, and climate modeler Tristan Abbot.
In this issue
For further information on giving opportunities or creating a named fund to benefit the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, please contact:
Megan Cokely
Senior Development Officer
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT
mecokely@mit.edu
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