Research
Meteorites and the early solar system
Meteorites provide windows into our Solar System’s distant past, and isotopes are keys to unlocking the secrets they hold. My work uses the isotopic compositions of meteorites and their components to address outstanding questions in planetary science, with a particular focus on the dynamics and evolution of the early Solar System. In particular, my research aims to identify the nucleosynthetic sources of material inherited by the protoplanetary disk during Solar System formation, assess the degree of mixing in the disk, constrain the timing of these processes, and evaluate sample origins and potential genetic relationships between parent bodies.
Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) in meteorites are the first solids formed in the early Solar System and record the isotopic composition of an early stage of Solar System evolution. Measurement and characterization of the isotopic compositions of CAIs can help us set constraints on the nucleosynthetic sources of the material present in our early Solar System and inform our understanding of subsequent mixing processes. I am the first author of a 2019 paper addressing these topics, "Titanium isotope signatures of calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions from CV and CK chondrites: Implications for early Solar System reservoirs and mixing."
Titanium and chromium isotopes can also be used to evaluate sample origins and establish relationships between meteorite parent bodies (often in combination with oxygen isotopes), and I am the first author of a 2021 paper studying the relationship between the CM and CO chondrite groups, "The relationship between CM and CO chondrites: Insights from combined analyses of titanium, chromium, and oxygen isotopes in CM, CO, and ungrouped chondrites."
Nuclear Forensics
Trinitite is a glassy material formed following the detonation of the Trinity nuclear bomb test on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico as the result of fusion of the desert sand, bomb, and test site components due to the high temperature and shock wave of the detonation.
As an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame, my work in the High Temperature Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory focused on conducting isotopic analyses of Trinitite in an effort to develop methods of source-attribution of post-detonation materials. I am a co-author on the resulting paper, "Comparative Investigation between In Situ Laser Ablation Versus Bulk Sample (Solution Mode) Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) Analysis of Trinitite Post-Detonation Materials."
Europa
Europa is an icy moon of Jupiter that is considered to be one of the most promising places in our Solar System to look for environments suitable to sustain life. This is due in large part to the presence of a global subsurface liquid water ocean beneath the moon's icy shell.
My work at ASU involved mapping surface microfeatures in ArcGIS and conducting statistical analyses of their spatial distribution. The goal of this work was to test existing subsurface models, construct 3D maps of Europa's shallow subsurface liquid water, and determine potential landing sites for future missions to Europa's surface. In 2019 we published a paper, "Mapping Europa's microfeatures in regional mosaics: New constraints on formation models."