Chair’s Welcome
Greetings EAS community, and welcome to the Fall 2022 departmental newsletter!
As we continue to adjust to the ‘new normal’ after the pandemic, EAS is focusing on experiential opportunities for students and a renewed focus on reducing barriers to student success. There have been many recent changes, opportunities, and successes in the department, and we hope that you will enjoy seeing some of these highlighted here.
EAS has 29 tenure-track faculty, and we are growing! We currently have two faculty searches, one in Igneous Petrology and the other in Planetary Geology/Geochemistry. We are excited to report that Drs. Honghai Zhang (Tropical Climate Dynamics and Global Hydrological Cycles) and Brandee Carlson (Geomorphology and Sedimentology) joined EAS this Fall, and Dr. Youtong Zheng (Global Climate Modeling) will join EAS in Spring 2023. Also joining our team are two research assistant professors, Drs. Hao Hu and Shan Zhou. This Fall, Dr. Jonny Wu was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Congratulations, Jonny!
In our efforts to reduce barriers and broaden opportunities for student success, EAS joined the AGU Bridge program that “…increases opportunities for students from historically marginalized populations to obtain graduate degrees in the geosciences and create a network of peers, mentors, and advisers to support and serve them before, during and after grad school.”
EAS also started a graduate student research grant program, among other programs and initiatives, that facilitates student research and provides opportunities for students to learn the grant writing process.
Of course, none of these programs could have been possible without the advocacy of EAS faculty and students as well as the generous donations from our alumni and friends. The results of these efforts are shown in our exceptional student employment rates.
Finally, the EAS community has had many exciting successes! Dr. Leon Thomsen, Research Professor of Geophysics, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and Dr. James Flynn, Research Associate Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, was named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors. Congratulations!
The EAS website comprehensively lists and archives the exciting accomplishments of faculty and students, some of these are included in the newsletter. Please enjoy this departmental newsletter and check out our website for how to get involved with EAS.
Take care!
Tom Lapen
Chair, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences