Professor, Arizona State University, School of Earth and Space Exploration
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