The People of CMS and Their Research
CMS Researchers | CMS Staff | Graduate Students | ASU Collaborators
From left to right: Amy Jurewicz, Susan Nowak, Laurence Garivie, Carleton Moore,
Meenakshi Wadhwa, Julie Stopar, Amy McAdam, Michelle Minitti, Philip Janney,
Rebekah Hines, Lev Spivak-Birndorf, Wendy Taylor, Matthew Sanborn, and Audrey Bouvier
CMS Researchers
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Meenakshi Wadhwa
(Director, CMS and Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration)
Ph.D. Washington University (1994) - Dr. Wadhwa is broadly interested in
deciphering the origin and evolution of our solar system and planetary bodies
in it through geochemical and isotopic means. She utilizes high precision
mass spectrometric techniques to investigate a wide range of solar system
materials, including meteorites of asteroidal and Martian origin, Moon rocks
(from the Apollo missions and lunar meteorites), and other samples returned
by spacecraft missions such as Genesis and Stardust. In studying these diverse
materials, her goals are to i) decipher the processes involved in their
formation using trace and minor element distributions and stable isotope
systematics; and ii) determine their time scales of formation using a variety
of radiogenic isotope chronometers.
- Michelle Minitti (Assistant Director and Faculty Research Associate, CMS) Ph.D. Brown University (2001) – Dr. Minitti utilizes tailor-made laboratory analogs and terrestrial analogs of Martian materials to pursue experimental and analytical investigations aimed at understanding the Martian meteorites and their context in Mars remote sensing datasets. She is particularly interested in the role of water in igneous and weathering processes. Dr. Minitti is also a Co-Investigator on the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera slated to investigate Mars as a part of the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory mission.
- Carleton Moore (Founding Director, CMS and Faculty Emeritus, Dept. of Geological Sciences and Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry) Ph.D. California Institute of Technology (1960) – Dr. Moore was editor of the journal Meteoritics for 20 years. He was a member of the Lunar Sample Preliminary Examination Team for the Apollo program and a principal investigator for the returned lunar sample program for all the Apollo missions. Dr. Moore’s research efforts are focused on the geochemistry of meteorites, lunar samples and analytical geochemical problems. Analytical instruments or techniques used in these investigations include atomic absorption spectrophotometry, gas chromatography, ion chromatography, neutron activation analysis, X-ray fluorescence spectrophotometry and electron microprobe techniques together with wet chemical analytical methods and standard methods for the characterization of meteoritic organic compounds. Additional research interests take advantage of the great statistical depth present in the Center for Meteorite Studies collections, including statistical studies of meteorite compositions and homogeneity, the origin of the low calcium achondrites, trace elements in iron meteorites, and high- and low-temperature phases, including organic compounds, in carbonaceous chondrites.
- Laurence A.J. Garvie (Collections Manager) Ph.D. University of Bristol (1992) - Dr. Garvie deciphers early Solar System processes through the use of innovative, high-spatial-resolution electron microscopic and spectroscopic studies of meteorites. His studies primarily focus on carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, which provide a unique record of the physical and chemical processes that shaped our Solar System. His current projects are roughly divided between mineralogical studies designed to reveal the structure and formation conditions of the abundant phyllosilicates in the CI and CM chondrites, and studies of the structure, distribution and formation conditions of organics in the carbonaceous chondrites. Highlights of Dr. Garvie's research include the discovery of serpentine nanotubes, polyhedral serpentines, hollow and solid nanoglobules made of amorphous carbon, and a ubiquitous clay-organic carbon relationship in these chondritic meteorites. The latter discovery is of particular interest since understanding the relationship between organic matter and the inorganic components in primitive meteorites has the potential to reveal important new information on abiotic organic processing during Solar System formation. He also leads projects designed to understand the chemistry and mineralogy of rock surface coatings, with particular emphasis on the laminated, Mn-rich coatings of arid terrestrial environments. Dr. Garvie serves as an Associate Editor for American Mineralogist.
- Amy J. G. Jurewicz (Faculty Research Associate) Ph.D. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1986) - Dr. Jurewicz's research currently focuses on the recovery and analysis of the GENESIS solar-wind collector materials. Solar wind is a direct analog of the early solar nebula, so from its composition we will glean insight into how our solar system formed. GENESIS is a NASA mission which collected solar-wind sample for two years, prior to a hard landing in Utah during the return to Earth. See the GENESIS website for more information. Before GENESIS, Dr. Jurewicz's research included work on a number of NASA missions, as well as the fabrication of meteorite analogs for the purpose of determining how one meteorite could be formed from another through natural, early solar system processes.
- Philip E. Janney (Associate Research Scientist) Ph.D. University of California, San Diego (1996) - Dr. Janney uses stable and radiogenic isotope systems to understand the timing and processes involved in the early history of the Solar System, from the condensation of the first solids to the differentiation of planets. A major current emphasis is the study of Mg and Si isotope fractionations in refractory inclusions in chondrites and laboratory-produced analogs to understand the role of evaporation in the history of these earliest-formed solids. Dr. Janney is also participating in several projects using the short-lived radionuclide systems 26Al-26Mg, 60Fe-60Ni and 182Hf-182W to investigate the formation of chondrites and differentiated meteorites. Dr. Janney manages the new Isotope Cosmochemistry and Geochronology Laboratory in the School for Earth and Space Exploration (founded and directed by Dr. Meenakshi Wadhwa), which features a 1000 ft.2 clean laboratory and a Thermo Neptune multicollector plasma mass spectrometer.
- Rebekah Hines (Research Specialist) M.Sc. University of Saskatchewan (2001)
- Audrey Bouvier (Postdoctoral Research Associate) Ph.D. Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France (2005) - Dr. Bouvier is interested in unraveling the chronology of the processes that led to the formation of planetary bodies within the first few million years of Solar System history. She uses high resolution 26Al-26Mg and 207Pb-206Pb radiogenic dating of objects such as refractory inclusions, chondrules and minerals from primitive meteorites (e.g., chondrites and early differentiated meteorites) to constrain the timing of accretion, the thermal evolution and the early differentiation of various planetoids. Her other research interests include the composition of terrestrial planets (e.g., Earth, Mars) and their global differentiation of Nd, Hf and Pb isotope systems.
- Weibiao Hsu (Visiting Research Scientist; Senior Research Staff, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy Sciences, China) Ph.D. Washington University (1995) - Dr. Hsu's current research areas include mineralogy and petrology of carbonaceous chondrites, petrogenesis of Ca,Al-rich refractory inclusions and Al-rich chondrules, distributions of short-lived radionuclides (e.g., 26Al, 36Cl etc.) in the early solar system.
CMS Staff
- Susan Nowak (Program Coordinator)
- Wendy Taylor (Education and Public Outreach Specialist)
Graduate Students
- Amy McAdam (Ph.D. Candidate, School of Earth and Space Exploration) Amy’s research involves using studies of the mineralogy and chemistry of
terrestrial Mars analogs and theoretical geochemical modeling of water-rock
interactions to gain insight into the role of water in Mars’ surface
environment. - Matthew Sanborn (Ph.D. Student, School of Earth and Space Exploration)
- Lev Spivak-Birndorf (Ph.D. Student, School of Earth and Space Exploration)
ASU Collaborators
- Peter Buseck (Regents Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration) Dr. Buseck's research includes solid state geochemistry/mineralogy - the study of crystal defects in minerals at the atomic level using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, geochemistry/cosmochemistry - the origin and character of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites and interplanetary (interstellar?) dust particles, and analytical and environmental geochemistry - the development and application of electron-beam instruments to the analysis of small particles, with emphasis on problems of atmospheric geochemistry and air pollution.
- Phil Christensen (Regents Professor and Korrick Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration) Dr. Christensen’s research interests include studying the geologic history and evolution of Earth and Mars. He leads the teams responsible for two major instruments currently orbiting Mars, the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), which is on board the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, and the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), which is on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Dr. Christensen's Mars Space Flight Facility at ASU directly controls THEMIS. A third instrument, mini-TES, is on board the two Mars Rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, that landed in January 2004.
- Steve Desch (Assistant Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration) Dr. Desch studies star and planet formation by combining astrophysical models and numerical simulations with meteoritic data.
- Sandra Pizzarello (Research Professor, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry) Dr. Pizzarello's research focuses on the study of organic components of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, and has lead to the recognition, molecular identification, and isotopic characterization of their main extractable organic constituents. Her work involves the analyses of several meteorites of the three chondrites subgroups and the development of new analytical methods. The finding of L-enantiomeric excesses in some meteoritic amino acids has suggested a possible link between chemical evolution and planetary homochirality, leading to the current investigation of the possible source of their asymmetry as well as of model syntheses that would mimic their prebiotic catalytic activity and reactions..
- Tom Sharp (Associate Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration) Dr. Sharp's current research areas include: the effect of water on high pressure phase transitions and deformation, high-pressure partitioning of highly siderophile elements and core formation, shock metamorphism and impacts on planetary bodies, chemical weathering on Mars and the structure and distribution of carbon in Earth's earliest microfossils.
- Everett Shock (Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration and Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry) Dr. Shock and members of his research group divide their time among building algorithms to estimate thermodynamic data; analyzing water, sediment, rock and biological samples; integrating analytical and thermodynamic data in models of geochemical and microbial processes; and testing ideas about the transport of water and solutes through the environment, the biogeochemical processes of the subsurface biosphere, and the potential for life on other planets.
- Mikhail Zolotov (Associate Research Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration) Dr. Zolotov uses physical-chemical modeling to explore behavior of volatiles, mineralogical transformations and redox processes in aqueously processed parent bodies of chondrites, in the solar nebula, icy satellites, and in lithospheres of Mars and Venus.
