Cristina Thomas’ interest in planets started when she was a child. She remembers looking through a backyard telescope with her father, searching for Halley’s Comet during its last pass through the inner solar system in 1986. Today, Thomas is a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), studying asteroid spectroscopy — using spectral analysis to create a model that can connect meteorites to asteroids and then to asteroid belts.

Recently, working with Planetary Sciences Professor Richard Binzel, Thomas was part of a team of graduate students and scientists who determined the composition of a near-earth asteroid that has the very slight possibility of colliding with our planet someday.

Her research is one piece of a puzzle that has intrigued Thomas most of her life, and humankind, most of its existence: What are the origins of the solar system?

“Parts of the meteorites we have are the oldest materials in the solar system, parts that people think are pre-solar grains, which means they’re older than our solar system,” Thomas says. “We’re like space archaeologists. We have very little information and we try to put back together what happened based on what we have.”

The origin of the solar system is but one scientific question EAPS faculty and students are researching. Professor Maria Zuber, head of the department, is leading the analysis of data from the Mercury Laser Altimeter, which was obtained by the MESSENGER spacecraft in January 2008. Professor Kerry Emanuel, director of the Center for Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, is examining the links between hurricane activity and climate change. Professor Sara Seager’s work is focused on planets outside the solar system — exoplanets — some of which might be able to support life. Other EAPS researchers are seeking ways to interpret underground sound to find hidden pockets of natural gas and oil, learning how earthquakes might be better predicted, and, of course, studying changes in our global climate.

“It’s a thrilling time for earth and space sciences because of the emerging new directions,” says Zuber. It’s also exciting as EAPS faculty have taken lead roles in the Institute’s energy and environmental initiatives.

The importance of graduate students

Graduate students are integral members of the EAPS research teams. Whether collaborating with faculty on research, or teaching and mentoring undergraduates, graduate students are crucial to the strength and integrity of the department. And, the advances they make at MIT greatly enhance the Institute’s reputation as a leader in education and scientific research.

In order to ensure that EAPS continues to attract the best graduate students, as well as the faculty who want to work with them, the department must offer graduate fellowships. Currently, only 30 percent of incoming students are supported with funds from the EAPS endowment, in contrast to other departments that can offer nearly every incoming student a full fellowship or equivalent.

A fellowship is especially important during a graduate student’s first year, as it gives that student a chance to complete coursework, begin research, and become accustomed to a new environment, free of the added responsibility of teaching or grading. Fellowship funding is also an important recruitment tool as MIT and EAPS compete with better-funded programs at other schools.

Understanding Earth and its system

EAPS seeks to understand the fundamental workings of natural systems by examining physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring across a vast spectrum of time and space. The department’s highly integrated research requires direct observation, as well as modeling, and thrives on interdisciplinary ventures that open new avenues of exploration. This collaborative environment fosters novel ideas and encourages new insights for understanding the past, present, and future of the Earth and its systems.

Today, the department is guided by an overarching mission to pursue strategic research in areas of strong societal interest that will ultimately lead to beneficial applications in the private and public sectors.

Spanning the range of space and time, EAPS research focuses on small- scale systems — such as severe storms, ecosystems, and active faults — as well as grand-scale planetary systems — and all of the Earth’s systems in between. EAPS faculty and students are often at the forefront of vital debates on topics ranging from energy policy to space exploration; the department’s research affects legislation, economics, and social welfare around the world.

Continuing to attract top graduate students will make certain EAPS maintains its leadership role. As government funding of research shrinks, and as competition among universities for the best students intensifies, MIT must take aggressive action to ensure graduate support and to preserve the excellence of its graduate programs. Fellowship support for EAPS students guarantees that MIT will continue to educate graduate students who seek the answers to the great scientific questions of our time.

Maintaining pre-eminence

Another important part of maintaining this leadership role in research and education, as well as of encouraging further collaboration, is the department’s desire to build a new environmentally friendly building. This new building would house not just EAPS, but also civil and environmental engineering (CEE), reinforcing the interdisciplinary efforts between the School of Science and the School of Engineering.

A new building is necessary because the ability of MIT’s faculty and students to study the Earth, the atmosphere, and space, is being hampered by the actual space currently occupied by the department. The Green Building (54) is near the end of its functional life and in need of full renovation. Even renovated, however, the building would still divide the department by allowing no more than two labs on each floor, compartmentalizing the faculty and making it harder for natural interaction and collaboration to happen. A new building would remedy these issues, and could further serve as headquarters to the Institute’s energy and environmental initiatives.