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Research Group

Jim's Class Field Trip and Research Group

Active Research Areas:

  • Surface Mineralogy and Weathering History of Mars
  • Surface Composition and Mineralogy of the Moon
  • Geologic Processes on the Surfaces of Terrestrial Planets, Icy Moons, and Asteroids
  • Laboratory Spectroscopic and Compositional Studies of Rocks and Minerals
  • Spacecraft Instrument Development, Calibration, and Image/Data Processing

Click Here for Recent Bell Group Publications

 

Students, Postdocs, and Research Staff Members:

Doctoral or Master's Students Year Thesis Topic/Research Area Current Affiliation
Benjamin Douglass 2027* Planetary Science ASU/SESE
Allyson Trussell 2027* Planetary Science ASU/SESE
Mohini Jodhpurkar 2025* Planetary Science ASU/SESE
Paul Horton 2024* Exploration Systems Design ASU/SESE
Samantha Jacob 2022 Mars Surface Mineralogy and Geology NASA/JSC
Steven Dibb 2021 Exploration Systems Design NASA/Ames
Hannah Kerner 2020 Exploration Systems Design Univ. of Maryland
Jacob Adler 2019 Lunar and Martian surface geologic processes JHU/APL
Laurence Tognetti 2019 Geomorphology and mapping of scalloped depressions on Mars
Danika Wellington 2018 Mars surface albedo changes; MSL/Mastcam multispectral imaging studies USGS EROS Data Center
Nathan Williams 2016 Lunar surface tectonics and Mars surface composition/mineralogy JPL/Caltech
Kristen Bennett 2016 Mars surface mineralogy and lunar pyroclastic deposits USGS/Flagstaff
Jason Lai 2014 Mineralogical Assessment of Volcanic Edifices on Mars Using Near- and Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing Department of Defense, Washington DC
Melissa Bunte 2013 Investigating geologic processes on icy satellites and small bodies and developing algorithms for automated science analysis onboard spacecraft Mesa Comm. College
Ryan Anderson 2011 Thesis: "Lasers and Landing Sites: The Geomorphology, Stratigraphy, and Composition of Mars." Research on MSL Landing site assessment and laboratory calibration of LIBS spectra.  Flight operations work as a MER Pancam Payload Downlink Lead. USGS/Flagstaff
Melissa Rice 2011 Thesis: "Annals of a Former World: The Remnants of Water at Gusev Crater and Eberswalde Crater, Mars."  Research on Silica- and Sulfur-rich soils and alteration at the Spirit rover landing site and the Geology of Eberswalde crater. Flight operations work as a MER Pancam Payload Downlink Lead. Faculty, Western Washington Univ.
Briony Horgan 2010 Thesis: "Wind, Water, and the Sands of Mars."  Researched the mineralogy, morphology, and weathering of Martian N. polar terrains. Faculty, Purdue University
Jason Soderblom 2007 Thesis: "Properties of Martian Soils, Rocks, and Atmospheric Dust Derived from Analysis of Hubble Space Telescope and Mars Exploration Rover Data."  Flight operations work as a MER Pancam Payload Downlink Lead. MIT
Tim McConnochie 2007 Thesis: "Observations of the Martian Atmosphere: THEMIS-VIS Calibration, Mesopheric Clouds, and the Polar Vortex." Flight operations work on calibration of Mars Odyssey THEMIS instrument. NASA/GSFC
Eldar Noe Dobrea 2004 Thesis: "Spectroscopic Searches for Water-Alteration Products on Mars."  Research on the spectroscopy, mineralogy, and geology of Mars using HST and Mars orbital data sets.  Flight operations work as a MER Pancam Payload Downlink Lead. PSI

*Expected Date of Graduation (approximate) 
 

Postdocs and Academic Professionals Year* Research Area Current Affiliation
Jim Rice 2020 Mars surface geology; ASU NewSpace Initiative ASU/SESE
Travis Gabriel 2018 Planetary surface and interior composition; ASU NewSpace Initiative USGS/Flagstaff
Tanya Harrison 2017 Mars surface geology; ASU NewSpace Initiative Planet, Inc.
Craig Hardgrove 2015 Mars surface composition; ASU NewSpace Initiative ASU/SESE Assistant Professor
Lauren Edgar 2014 Analysis of Martian Geomorphology and Stratigraphy Research Geologist, USGS Flagstaff Astrogeology Center
Kjartan Kinch 2006 Analysis of Martian dust optical and radiative properties Copenhagen University
Joe Harrington 2003 Development of CONTOUR spectrometer calibration and analyis routines University of Central Florida
Patrick Martin 1998 Analysis of NEAR/NIS infrared spectra of Eros, and VIS-NIR spectra of Mars European Space Astronomy Centre
David Klassen 1997 Acquisition and analysis of IRTF near-IR spectral data of Mars Professor, Rowan University

*Last year in group, if multiple years 
  
 

Research Staff Year* Research Area Current Affiliation

Ernest Cisneros

2015 -

Mission Operations and Science Data Center Lead

ASU/SESE

Nathan Cluff

2015 -

Lead IT/Systems Support

ASU/SESE

Kristen Paris

2015 -

MER/Pancam, MSL/Mastcam, and Mars-2020/Mastcam-Z downlink processing

ASU/SESE

Austin Godber

2016

Systems Administrator and MSL/Mastcam data reduction, calibration, and mosaicking

Private Industry

Jonathan Joseph

2012 -

Lead Programmer for MER/Pancam data reduction, calibration, and mosaicking

Cornell

Jon Proton

2012 -

MER/Pancam Payload Uplink Lead

Cornell

Emily Dean

2012 -

MER/Pancam Payload Uplink Lead

Cornell

Elaina McCartney

2011

MER/Pancam Payload Uplink Lead

MSSS

Dale Theiling

2010

MER/Pancam Payload Uplink Lead

CU/LASP

Chase Million

2007

Analysis of Mars Odyssey/THEMIS and MRO/CTX and MARCI data sets

GALEX Science Center/Caltech

Dmitry Savransky

2006

MER/Pancam Payload Uplink Lead, Payload Downlink Lead, database dev.

U.C./Berkeley

Heather Arneson

2005

MER/Pancam Payload Uplink Lead, Payload Downlink Lead, downlink proc.

NASA/Ames

Miles Johnson

2005

MER/Pancam Payload Uplink Lead, Payload Downlink Lead, database dev.

Graduate Student, U. Illinois

Min Hubbard

2005

Analysis of HST and ISO data; downlink processing of MER/Pancam images

GALEX Science Center/Caltech

Jascha Sohl-Dickstein

2005

MER/Pancam Payload Uplink Lead, Payload Downlink Lead, database dev.

Stanford

*Last year in group, if multiple years 
 

Undergrads Year* Research Topic Last Known Affiliation

Kyle Rogers

2015

Office, research aid

ASU/SESE

Stephanie Dimpfel

2015

Camera system engineering aid

ASU/SESE

Zach Burnham

2015

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Perry Vargas

2015

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Alain Holaday

2015

Office, research aid

ASU/SESE

Kelsie Crawford

2015

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Sarah Brooks

2015

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Andrew Winhold

2015

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

T.J. Slezak

2014

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Liz Dyer

2014

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Jack Lightholder

2014

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Todd Gilbert

2013

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Bhavin Nayak

2014

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Nikhil Kalige

2013

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Anil Kuncham

2013

Student IT, programming, and/or camera calibration aid

ASU/SESE

Nathan Williams

2009

Worked on LRO tectonics targeting and Apollo Pan/Metric image analysis

ASU Graduate Student

Shianne Beer ('08)

2008

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Sarah Morrison ('10)

2008

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

Cornell

Lucy Ooi ('09)

2008

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

James Teague ('09)

2008

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Ashlee Wilkins ('10)

2009

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

Cornell

Nicholas Wirth ('10)

2008

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Aaron Rubin ('08)

2007

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Janet Vertesi (Ph.D., '08)

2007

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

Postdoc, UC Irvine

Graham Anderson ('07)

2007

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Lisa Grossman ('08)

2007

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

Science Journalist, New Scientist

Diego Saenz ('08)

2007

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Derek Schaeffer ('07)

2007

Helped to develop data reduction and processing pipelines for the MRO/MARCI and MRO/CTX instruments; Winner of the Shelley Prize for outstanding undergraduate research in Astronomy in 2007

Graduate Student, UCLA

Alex Shapero ('06)

2006

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

J.R. Skok ('07)

2007

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

Graduate Student, Brown

Tom Ternquist ('08)

2007

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

William Versfelt ('07)

2007

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Ben Holmes ('06)

2005

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Chase Million ('06)

2005

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

GALEX Science Center/Caltech

Adam Fischman ('06)

2005

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Alissa Friedman ('05)

2005

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Alex Hayes ('03)

2005

Worked on MER/Pancam and Mini-TES stereo processing pipeline

Graduate Student, Caltech

Ben Herbert ('05)

2005

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Kelley Hess ('05)

2005

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

Graduate Student, U. Wisconsin

Kristen Frazier ('07)

2005

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Peter Meakin ('07)

2005

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Dmitry Savransky ('04)

2004

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Alex Shih ('05)

2004

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

 

Stephanie Gil ('06)

2004

Worked as a member of the student MER/Pancam Calibration staff

Faculty, Arizona State Univ.

Mike Shafer ('04)

2003

Worked on Mars Odyssey/THEMIS computer system and database

 

Ben Stiglitz ('06)

2003

Worked on data processing software for Mars Odyssey/THEMIS-VIS analysis

 

Salman Arif ('04)

2003

Worked on testing of MER/Pancam data compression software

 Faculty, Univ. of Pennsylvania

Julia Sohnen ('04)

2003

Worked on MER operations planning

 

Yong Shin ('04)

2003

Analyzed Pancam multispectral filter calibration measurements

 

Matt Siegler ('03)

2003

Analyzed MER/Pancam compression algorithms and performance

Graduate Student, UCLA

Joshua Neubert ('03)

2003

Analyzed HST multispectral images of Mars

 

Christopher Dodd ('01)

2002

Worked on the analysis of NEAR/NIS imaging spectroscopy data

 

Jason Neuswanger ('02)

2001

Worked on the development of a new Department of Astronomy web site

 

Rick Clinite ('03)

2001

Worked on the calibration and analysis of NEAR/NIS data

 

David Dror ('02)

2001

Worked on calibration and analysis of ISO/SWS Mars and Deimos data

 

Andrew Cunningham

2000

REU, SUNY/Geneseo: Worked on Pancam mosaic software

 

Taqui Raza

2000

Univ. Buffalo summer intern: Worked on HST and IRTF data organization

 

Scott Southard ('99)

2000

Worked on HST data analysis and near-IR spectral analysis software

 

Ben Cichy ('00)

1999

Worked on analysis of HST imaging dataset, mapping routines

 

Jascha Sohl-Dickstein ('01)

1999

Worked on development of Astro 101/102 lab web pages and HST mapping

Graduate Student, UC Berkeley

Tim Glotch

2000

SpaceGrant intern, Colgate U.: Worked on analysis of HST spectroscopic data

Professor, SUNY/Stony Brook

Patrick Spann ('02)

1999

Worked on design and calibration of 2001 APEX/Pancam instrument

 

Jennifer Ward

1999

SpaceGrant intern, Colgate U.:  Worked on Analysis of Palomar asteroid data

NASA/Ames Research Center

Elizabeth Hays ('99)

1999

Worked on archiving and organization of NEAR preflight calibration data

 

Richard Zentko ('99)

1998

Worked on image processing tools for IRTF Mars telescopic data

 

Robert Comstock

1998

REU, Central Washington U.: Worked on Analysis of HST near-IR data

 

*Last year in group, if multiple years