Office of the Director

Letter From the Director

Welcome to our web site.

The Observatory's goal is to develop and communicate new knowledge about the origin, evolution and future of the natural world. We work to understand how the deep earth feeds global volcanism and triggers earthquakes; how the atmosphere changes when we add greenhouse gases and other pollutants; how the oceans transport great quantities of heat and control the ever-changing cycles of climate. When such fundamental earth processes occur catastrophically, as they have in recent years with the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, everyone is reminded that earth sciences play a central role in human survival.

We want to understand how the earth works so we can make useful predictions of changes - both the slow and almost invisible, as well as the sudden and catastrophic. Only with this knowledge can we protect our growing population, and the global ecosystem itself.

As you look through our site, I think you will see many projects that catch your imagination and pique your interest to learn more.  We welcome your feedback.  Learning how to better communicate the results of our work is one our primary goals for the next decade.

In 2007, with the opening of our new Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Laboratory Building, and with the acquisition of the extremely capable research vessel Marcus G. Langseth, the Observatory  will greatly increase the scope and effectiveness of its efforts. But still much work remains to be done. The challenges that lie before us are huge; it will take decades of focused work to achieve our goals. Fortunately, the researchers at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have the ideas, diversity of skills and dedication to their mission that ensure our understanding of earth will continue to grow.

G. Michael Purdy

Director