Climate

Highlights From the 2026 Open House at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

More than 2,500 visitors explored hands-on activities, lectures and installations at Lamont's campus on Saturday, October 17.
By
Olga Rukovets
October 22, 2026

Last weekend, on a brisk but beautiful autumn Saturday, over 2,500 visitors traveled to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for the 2026 Open House—an annual tradition that dates back as early as 1949.

Guests of all ages got to explore the expansive campus in Palisades, NY, and partake in a variety of hands-on activities, demonstrations and installations, including an augmented reality sandbox, a “warming stripe” walkway showing climate change through the decades, drone footage from an active volcano, and annual favorites like bathtub science, trashcan volcano explosions, glacial goo and rocks from space. There were lectures on timely topics such as AI for scientific research; the August 2026 Nepal-China landslide and flooding; micro- and nanoplastics; NYC congestion pricing; this historic el Niño year and much more.

This daylong celebration of knowledge represented an opportunity for the wider community to learn from Lamont researchers about the many tools they are using to better understand our planet and see some of the evidence they’ve gathered firsthand!

Check out some of the day’s highlights below.

People walk along a path between large white tents at an outdoor event
Guests stream in through the Open House welcome tent. Photo: Bruce Gilbert
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House map showing buildings, pathways, exhibits, services, and shuttle stops
A map showing Lamont’s campus and the many Open House events. Photo: Tara Spinelli
Child looks at rock through magnifying glass
Budding geologists learning about rocks and what they can teach us about the planet. Photo: Bruce Gilbert
Child looks into magnifier at sediment cores with adults in background
Lamont’s Core Repository is a treasure trove for scientists of all ages. Photo: Bruce Gilbert
The Lamont Core Repository
The Lamont Core Repository is the most extensive collection of marine sediment and rock samples from around the world. Over 20,000 samples are available to researchers and educators worldwide to learn more about the planet’s climate history. Photo: Olga Rukovets
An exhibit showing how glue and Borax simulates the flow of glaciers.
A goo made out of glue and Borax simulates the flow of glaciers. Toothpicks illustrate how ice flows faster in the center due to lack of friction. Photo: Adrienne Day
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A device that can test your “personal cloud of microscopic particulates.” (The winner? A Lamont post doc, not a kid!) Photo: Adrienne Day
Campus with a trashcan volcano erupting in front of a modern building and a person standing nearby
Using ping pong balls and liquid nitrogen, the crowd-favorite trashcan volcano simulates a Plinian volcanic eruption. Photo: Bruce Gilbert
A large crowd of adults and children gathers outdoors in autumn, watching an event along a residential street
Spectators stand back at a safe distance and wait for the blast! Photo: Bruce Gilbert
A hand holding a Hershey's kiss candy
A “chocolate volcano,” courtesy of Lamont volcanologist Terry Plank. Photo: Adrienne Day
People sticking their hands into a bathtub full of cornstarch and water for science learning
Attendees get their hands dirty with “oobleck” (cornstarch and water) to learn about rheology, a branch of physics that deals with the deformation and flow of matter. Photo: Bruce Gilbert
A man in a safari hat steps into a large white tub as a crowd watches and takes photos
Lamont geophysicist Marc Spiegelman performs his signature “oobleck dance” and runs across its surface to demonstrate its properties. Photo: Bruce Gilbert
A photo of a sign at Open House detailing what species dwell in the Hudson River
A surprising variety of aquatic animals call the Hudson River their home. Photo: Adrienne Day
Enter and you will be eaten 650x620.jpg
Warning sign on lab door: Enter and you will be eaten by a crodeadile. Photo: Adrienne Day
Visitors gather around an exhibit of large polished wood slabs
You can learn about the many secrets trees have to share at Lamont’s Tree Ring Laboratory, which uses tree rings to study climate and climate change in the past. Photo: Bruce Gilbert
People walk along a wooded path marked with blue stripes, with a child in a red hood facing the camera
Visitors walk the “warming stripe,” which shows long-term temperature trends by decade from blue (cooler) to orange (warmer). Photo: Bruce Gilbert
People walk along a tree-lined road with autumn foliage and a colorful painted stripe running down the pavement
Temperatures are heating up. Photo: Olga Rukovets
Sign honoring Marie Tharp, featuring “I ♥” above her portrait and identifying the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House
Lamont scientists celebrated Marie Tharp’s pioneering contributions to seafloor mapping. Photo: Olga Rukovets
Sandbox where different colors represent different underwater depths
Participants could also try their hands at “mapping” the seafloor using an augmented reality sandbox, with each color representing a different underwater depth. Credit: Tara Spinelli
Dorothy Peteet and Clara Chang smile in front of a poster
Botanist and climate scientist Dorothy Peteet (right) has been studying wetlands and sediments of various kinds for more than 40 years. Here she is accompanied by post doc Clara Chang. Photo: Adrienne Day
Gift shop display featuring a Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House T-shirt, world ocean floor map tote bag, and mug
Many attendees were spotted wearing tote bags with Marie Tharp’s iconic map—on the very campus where she left a lasting mark on our understanding of the world and our oceans. Photo: Tara Spinelli

See you next year!

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climate change Climate Science cs highlights Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory open house