PTYS graduate students Patricio Becerra and Michelle Thompson were each awarded a Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) Career Development Award in February 2014.

The award is given to graduate students who submitted a first-author abstract to the 45th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC). The awards are based on a review of the application materials by a panel of planetary scientists, and recipients received a $1000 travel stipend to help cover LPSC conference expenses.

Patricio's poster abstract was titled, "Martian Polar Stratigraphy from HiRISE Stereo Topography." The title of Michelle's abstract was, "Nanoscale Analysis of Space Weathering Features in Soils from Itokawa."