Highlights from 2023’s Open House at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Last Saturday, October 14, almost 2,000 visitors braved the elements—pun intended—for a rainy Open House at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. It’s a yearly tradition that stretches back over half a century, and an opportunity for adults and children of all ages to learn about our planet. Lamont’s scientists share their research with the public via hands-on demonstrations, discussions and lectures, and interactive exhibits and videos. It’s a great place to get your hands dirty—and many kids did with the Oobleck-filled bathtub, sticky glacier goo, and a delicious “earth-cake” demonstrating how subduction zones lead to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. There was also a soil-testing station, spooky glacier art, rocks from the bottom of the ocean and the surface of the moon, a rambunctious polar bear, and exploding volcanoes. Below are some highlights from a messy and wonderful time at Lamont this year.

Nearly 2000 people came to @LamontEarth Open House although it rained continuously all day. Amazing science: tree rings, volcanoes, plankton, earthquakes… Students from my @ColumbiaSUMA class came too. They took a forest hike with me despite the rain. Thank you for coming by! pic.twitter.com/ahmRWc3tAD

— Nguyen Tan Thai Hung @ntthung.bsky.social (@Hung_TT_Nguyen) October 14, 2023

Kids play with cornstarch and water (i.e., “Oobleck”) for a sticky investigation into the properties of rheology. Rheology is a branch of physics that deals with the deformation and flow of matter. Photo: Adrienne Day

Looking at 3D images of the asteroid Bennu, from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. Photo: Jessica Waverka

Lamont graduate student Rose Oelkers illustrates how trees can record earthquakes and other disasters in their growth rings, using a sample from a pine tree that lived near the San Andreas Fault. Photo: Francesco Fiondella

Edward Cook, the director of the Tree-Ring Laboratory, describes the countries he has visited to collect tree cores and cuttings for his research. Photo: Francesco Fiondella

Jacob Tielke of the rock mechanics lab inspects an “earth cake” representing an oceanic tectonic plate (left) subducting underneath a continental plate. Cake created by lab head (and expert baker) Christine McCarthy. Photo: Kevin Krajick

Artist and scientist Elizabeth Case’s art at the ‘Communicating Science in a Distracted World’ panel. Photo: Olga Rukovets

Hanna Anderson, a grad student studying ocean microbes, describes the chemical and biological qualities of different water samples. Photo: Kevin Krajick

My son, a second grader, was so inspired by @LamontEarth Open House that he wanted tell his friends about tree rings. He even made a worksheet for his friends. We just got this photo from his teacher. Here he is showing a tree core sample with a digital microscope. #ScienceParent pic.twitter.com/NQHPHl0WPE

— Nguyen Tan Thai Hung @ntthung.bsky.social (@Hung_TT_Nguyen) October 17, 2023

Space rocks! NASA recently designated the Lamont Geoinformatics Research Group to sort and store all data from extraterrestrial matter curated by the agency, including from meteorites, asteroids and the Moon. Photo: Kevin Krajick

Part of an art exhibit by Rhonda Babb (The Hope Symbol Project). Photo: Olga Rukovets

A rotating tank experiment simulate features of atmospheric and oceanic circulation. Photo: Francesco Fiondella

A fire proximity suit welcomes visitors to the Volcano tent exhibits. These suits are designed to protect Lamont volcanologists from the extremely high heat of their field sites. Photo: Francesco Fiondella

Kids save the town from an erupting cinder cone volcano. Photo: Adrienne Day

Looking into the Core Repository: a collection of over 20,000 marine sediment and rock samples from all over the world. Photo: Tara Spinelli

The weather didn’t stop us from enjoying @LamontEarth Open House 2023! It was so fun to talk with so many folks of all ages + backgrounds about #AI #data #clouds #ice #oceans #heat #physics #climateadaptation — thanks for coming out today!@columbiaclimate @Columbia @NSF pic.twitter.com/vom5s7UVgG

— LEAP-STC (@LeapStc) October 14, 2023

Hung Nguyen and Max with Hung’s Master of Science in Sustainability Management class

🗺️ The Atlantic and Indian Ocean Regional Center Team made waves during @LamontEarth’s Open House on October 14th!

The team was excited to share their excitement about #ocean mapping with Open House attendees including kids, high schoolers, parents, and educators. pic.twitter.com/YxAeMzVpVm

— Seabed 2030 (@seabed2030) October 17, 2023

At the Deep Sea Core Repository, former lab assistant Ashley Braunthal shows off the sites where Lamont research vessels have taken marine sediment core samples (colored dots). Photo: Kevin Krajick