As an Associate Research Scientist in the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies, I manage numerous research projects and conduct research in isotope cosmochemistry and petrology of astromaterials, including carbonaceous chondrites, martian meteorites, and moon rocks. I am a NASA-sponsored participating scientist on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission and will analyze samples to be returned from Mars' moon, Phobos.

As an Assistant Research Scientist in the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies, I manage numerous research projects and conduct research in isotope cosmochemistry and petrology of astromaterials including carbonaceous chondrites. My expertise lie primarily in the study of carbonaceous chondrites but I also analyze ordinary chondrites and Hayabusa-returned particles from asteroid Itokawa. In addition, I also undertake volatile element studies of martian meteorites.

As a NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Postdoctoral Associate at the Carnegie Institution of Washington I studied a variety of primitive carbonaceous chondrites (including CM, CR, CO, and ungrouped carbonaceous chondrites) with the goal of furthering our understanding of the evolution of primitive carbonaceous chondrite bodies in the early Solar System. I achieved this by using organic matter and presolar grains as in situ tracers of parent body alteration and correlated their abundances and… Show more As a NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Postdoctoral Associate at the Carnegie Institution of Washington I studied a variety of primitive carbonaceous chondrites (including CM, CR, CO, and ungrouped carbonaceous chondrites) with the goal of furthering our understanding of the evolution of primitive carbonaceous chondrite bodies in the early Solar System. I achieved this by using organic matter and presolar grains as in situ tracers of parent body alteration and correlated their abundances and chemistry with the host meteorite's petrology via a variety of state-of-the-art techniques. Show less

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, I continued the original research I had initiated at the University of Arizona during my preceding postdoc; understanding the petrology and genesis of CV and CK carbonaceous chondrites, with the aim of testing the shared parent body hypothesis via in situ O-isotope analysis.

As a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory I had three main projects:(1) Investigated the opaque and silicate mineralogies of CV and CK chondrites to test the single parent body hypothesis. (2) Developed combined LIBS/LA-ICP-MS for the site-specific analysis of extraterrestrial materials. Held a provisional patent.(3) OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission: (i) Science Team Collaborator (spectroscopy of organic matter from… Show more As a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory I had three main projects:(1) Investigated the opaque and silicate mineralogies of CV and CK chondrites to test the single parent body hypothesis. (2) Developed combined LIBS/LA-ICP-MS for the site-specific analysis of extraterrestrial materials. Held a provisional patent.(3) OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission: (i) Science Team Collaborator (spectroscopy of organic matter from carbonaceous chondrites), and (ii) Education and Public Outreach working group member, attended outreach events, developed Standard Operating Procedures for EPO tasks, and built and maintained various mission websites. Show less

As a Consultant at the Open University, I provided training to others (including a newly-hired laboratory assistant and postdoctoral associate) related to advanced sample preparation techniques (including handling of small particles, such as interplanetary dust particles, using a micromanipulator) and analysis of astromaterials with the Cameca NanoSIMS 50L ion microprobe.

While undertaking an F. A. Paneth Meteorite Trust research internship, administered by the Royal Astronomical Society, I prepared and analyzed small micrometeorites (5 to 50 microns in diameter) extracted from ancient Triassic salt deposits. I hand-picked samples using a single-hair brush, prepared hand-polished epoxy-mounted micrometeorite cross-sections, and characterized them via scanning electron microscopy and electron probe microanalysis. I presented the results of this work at the 2006… Show more While undertaking an F. A. Paneth Meteorite Trust research internship, administered by the Royal Astronomical Society, I prepared and analyzed small micrometeorites (5 to 50 microns in diameter) extracted from ancient Triassic salt deposits. I hand-picked samples using a single-hair brush, prepared hand-polished epoxy-mounted micrometeorite cross-sections, and characterized them via scanning electron microscopy and electron probe microanalysis. I presented the results of this work at the 2006 Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, London, the Network for Early Solar System Investigation, Oxford, and the 38th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston. Show less

Studied for an undergraduate degree (four-year MSci) in Geosciences with an emphasis on geochemistry, mineralogy and petrology.