News

Prof. Sasha Wagner, aboard the Alvin research submersible, sends a bit of “explosive” news from the East Pacific Rise:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/science/deep-ocean-volcanic-eruption-pacific.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EE8.8kZg.367mj6Ktnugp&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

In our history of the understanding of plate tectonics as a unifying theory for how the earth functions, there has never been a direct observation of volcanism along the mid-ocean rise. This is as close as we’ve come and is a huge deal!

Univ of Delaware's press release: https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/may/rare-tica-deep-ocean-volcanic-eruption/

Students in Prof. Morgan Schaller's Oceanography class were able to interview Prof. Wagner on ship live from the classroom during her two recent research cruises, all in real time. This has been a great opportunity for the students to be engaged in the research and think critically about it.

Top-Cited Article:

Prof. Frank Spear's work entitled "Pressure-temperature evolution of the basement and cover sequences on los, Greece: Evidence for subduction of the Hercynian basement" has been recognized as a Top Cited Article in Journal of Metamorphic Geology.

Presentation Award:

Grad student Alex Collins received the Outstanding Student Presentation Award for his presentation entitled "Dams and reservoirs alter the transport and storage of organic matter within the Upper Hudson Watershed" at the AGU Annual Meeting last December. This honor is awarded for only the most exceptional presentations during AGU24 and Alex received $100 as designated by his section, Biogeosciences.

Papers published:

Semprich, J., Filiberto, J., Weller, M. et al. Metamorphism of Venus as driver of crustal thickness and recycling. Nat Commun 16, 2905 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58324-1 

Collins, A., Hubbard, J., Wagner, S. (in press) Hydrologic management convolutes expected spatiotemporal patterns of dissolved organic matter in the Hudson River. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences

Holt, A.D., Barton, R., Wagner, S., McKenna, A.M., Fellman, J., Hood, E., Battin, T.I., Hannes, P., Vanishing Glaciers Field Team, Spencer, R.G.M. (in press) Widespread black carbon deposition of varied origin exported from glaciers. Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Park, J. G. and  Schaller, M. F. (2025). "Constraints on Earth’s atmospheric evolution from a gas-aqueous partition of fluid inclusion volatiles." Gondwana Research 139: 204-215. doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2024.12.003 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1342937X24003423

Grant Awards:

Prof. Sarah Cadieux was recently awarded a NYS Water Resource Institute grant, “Upper Hudson River Microplastics Watch.”

Prof. Matt Pasek and a research colleague in the Czech Republic were recently awarded funding from the Human Frontiers of Science Program for three years.

Appointment:

Prof. Morgan Schaller was appointed to a three-year term on the Awards Committee of the European Association of Geochemistry.

Announcements

The Office of Undergraduate Education and the Teaching and Learning Collaboratory (TLC) are excited to announce the 2023 fellows awarded for the Innovative Pedagogy Fellowship Call. The call sought out faculty who teach in the Arch summer terms to redesign their courses using innovative pedagogical techniques. Tracks for the fellows include gameful learning, immersive and embodied learning, flipping the classroom, and active learning strategies in addition to topics on assessment and inclusive learning.

The Earth and Environmental Sciences Department is seeking graduate student applications. We have a rich geology, environmental science, and astrobiology program, as well as data science and geoinformatics. Applications submitted after the RPI deadline will still be considered - Follow this link to apply: https://admissions.rpi.edu/graduate/masters-and-phd-applicants

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