Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory

05/19/2026

Why Bermuda? It's not the beaches (okay, not only the beaches). This island sits on top of a 30-million-year-old geological mystery!

Plate tectonics explains almost everything about Earth's surface: volcanoes, mountains, drifting continents. But Bermuda doesn't quite fit. It sits alone in the middle of an oceanic plate, its last eruption was 31 million years ago, and it probably should have sunk by now. What's the deal?

That's the big mystery postsoc Will Frazer built (Bermuda Earthquake and Structure Test) to investigate!

Got questions for Will? We'll break things down in the comments!

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05/19/2026

Carnegie Science researchers are back in Bermuda to check on seismometers placed across the island earlier this year. The instruments are helping the team investigate a hidden geologic structure beneath Bermuda, while Carnegie Science communicators document the fieldwork, partnerships, and science behind the project.

Follow all week for a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into studying this beautiful and mysterious volcanic island.

Slide to meet the field team →

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William Frazer
Postdoctoral Fellow, Earth & Planets Laboratory

William Frazer is an observational seismologist who develops and applies methods to image the crust and mantle. He is particularly interested in the circulation of subducted lithosphere and volatiles within the Earth’s mantle.

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Diana Roman
H.O. Wood Chair of Seismology, Earth & Planets Laboratory

Volcanologist Diana Roman is interested in the mechanics of how magma moves through the Earth’s crust, and in the structure, evolution, and dynamics of volcanic conduit systems.

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Katy Cain
Communications Specialist, Carnegie Science

Katy is a science communicator and visual storyteller with a background in biological photography and science writing.

Navid Marvi
Multimedia Designer and Producer, Carnegie Science

Navid is a graphic designer and multimedia producer with years of experience translating complex science into compelling visuals.

04/21/2026

A seismic mystery lurks beneath Bermuda. Join us for a special as Carnegie postdoc William Frazer goes beyond the triangle to uncover the truth! 🔺🏝️🕵️🪨🤯

🗓️ April 30 @ 6:30 PM ET
📍 Earth & Planets Laboratory | Washington, D.C.
🔗 bit.ly/geo-mystery

03/14/2026

Did you know that every leaf on a corn stalk emerges exactly 180° from the one before it? Two perfect rows, opposite sides, all the way up. That angle is a fraction of a full circle, and the math that defines a full circle runs on pi.

The orbits our telescopes track. The seismic waves our instruments measure deep underground. The geometry of how a grass arranges its leaves. Pi is in all of it.

Pi shows up anywhere nature curves, rotates, oscillates, or radiates, which, when you work at a place that studies everything from the deep Earth to distant exoplanets to the ways plants grow, turns out to be basically everywhere.

3.14159265358979… and it never stops. Kind of like our research!

Happy Pi Day from Carnegie Science.

" #314159265358979

03/12/2026

Anna Shepard believed archaeology needed the tools of the hard sciences. She was right! https://bit.ly/3P40t6x

03/11/2026

Meet Henrietta Swope—the Carnegie astronomer whose science and quiet generosity are still shaping discoveries today.

🔗 https://bit.ly/4sELyOI

03/11/2026

🔭 🚀 —the scientists of the Earth and Planets Laboratory are BACK, and this time they're putting YOU in the captain's chair.

In space exploration, the questions you ask matter as much as the answers you get. Are you ready to commit to a destination you've never met? Introducing Mission Matchmaker—part The Dating Game, part Choose Your Own Adventure, 100% real planetary science.

Ask smart questions. Read the clues. Trust your gut. Then commit to a mission…and find out if your cosmic match is a moon, a planet, an asteroid, or something even more exotic. The catch? You won't know where you're going until the very end.

Join researchers from the Carnegie Science Earth & Planets Laboratory for an audience-driven space mission unlike anything you've done before.

🗓Friday, March 13
🕑 1:30–2:15 PM
📍 Room 206

🔗 https://awesome-con.com/programming/ #/event/mission-matchmaker-game

12/29/2025

12/18/2025

🎉 Congratulations to Carnegie Science geochemist Steven Shirey, who received the American Geophysical Union (AGU)'s 2025 Harry Hess Medal last night at .

https://bit.ly/4pLFrqX

Carnegie Staff Scientist Steven Shirey will be awarded the American Geophysical Union's Hess Medal for his contributions to geochemistry research.

12/11/2025

Undergrads, this could be you! Applications are officially open for .