The Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences is pleased to announce that faculty members Rita Parai and Paul Byrne have been granted tenure.
We are excited to share that the following faculty members have been granted tenure:
Rita Parai
Dr. Parai has been with the department since 2016 and runs the High-Temperature Isotope Geochemistry lab in Rudolph Hall where she and her team make high-precision measurements of isotopes in rocks to better understand the formation and evolution of planetary bodies. In 2022, she won an award from the National Science Foundation for her project “Heavy Noble Gases in the Azores Archipelago.” She was also featured in a recent episode of the NOVA series Ancient Earth: Birth of the Sky.
Paul Byrne
Dr. Byrne joined the department in 2022. His research focuses on comparative planetary geology—comparing and contrasting the surfaces and interiors of planetary bodies, including Earth, to understand geological phenomena at the systems level. In the Spring of 2023, he and fellow scientist Rebecca Hahn published their map of the 85,000 volcanoes on Venus. Just last month Byrne was chosen by the Explorer's Club to be one of the 2024 EC50, a yearly list of 50 people exploring new frontiers in our world and beyond.
Their tenure will be effective July 1, 2024. Our department offers them both a hearty congratulations!
