On December 17, 2013, the Johns Hopkins University Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences lost a venerable and beloved faculty member, Lawrence “Lawrie” Alexander Hardie, professor emeritus of geochemistry and sedimentology. For nearly 50 years, Lawrie Hardie inspired students and colleagues at Johns Hopkins through his devotion to science, his personal integrity, and his commitment to the welfare of others.

E&PS paleoclimatologists rely on a variety of tools—from isotopes to ocean temperature—to parse the past in order to shed light on Earth’s future. Read the article in Arts & Sciences magazine.

E&PS Chair Thomas Haine has been working to monitor and understand how water flows out of the Arctic, especially freshwater. He warns that major changes in the Arctic ice cap could be part of a chain of effects that could alter ocean composition, Atlantic currents, and the rate of global climate change. Read the article […]

It seems that “Lucy” was not the only hominin on the block in northern Africa about 3 million years ago. A team of researchers that included Prof. Naomi Levin has announced the discovery of a partial foot skeleton with characteristics (such as an opposable big toe bone) that don’t match those of Lucy, the human […]