2024 Galileo Circle Scholarships
Congratulations to LPL's 2024 Galileo Circle Scholarship recipients: Namya Baijal, Maizey Benner, Galen Bergsten, Dingshan Deng, Mackenzie Mills, Samantha Moruzzi, Iunn Ong, and Lucas Smith.
Galileo Circle Scholarships are awarded to the University of Arizona's finest science students and represent the tremendous breadth of research interests in the University of Arizona College of Science. The scholarships are supported through the generous donations of Galileo Circle members. Galileo Circle Scholars receive $1,000 and the opportunity to introduce themselves and their research to the Galileo Circle patrons.
Namya Baijal
Advisor: Erik Asphaug
Seeks to understand how impacts between planetary bodies shape their surface and interiors, with a focus on asteroids.
Maizey Benner
Advisor: Tom Zega
Investigating the thermodynamic origins and evolution of phosphorus- and sulfur- bearing minerals in aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites.
Galen Bergsten
Advisor: Ilaria Pascucci
Uses large-scale survey data to study populations of extrasolar planets, including those analogous to Earth, to learn how planets form and evolve throughout the Galaxy.
Dingshan Deng
Advisor: Ilaria Pascucci
Studies star and planetary formation, including protoplanetary disks, which are the birthplaces of the planets around the young stars.
Mackenzie Mills
Advisor: Alfred McEwen
Using spacecraft data to derive scientific conclusions from planetary surfaces, characterizing Martian geomorphology and working for an understanding of influence of Martian subsurface features on spatial distributions of surface features.
Samantha Moruzzi
Advisor: Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna
Studying Pluto’s interior through its fractures and impacts, and how Earth analogs and terrestrial methods can aid in our investigations.
Iunn Ong
Advisor: Jessica Barnes
Using microscopy techniques to analyze Bennu samples and understand the extent of aqueous and thermal alteration that takes place on asteroids.
Lucas Smith
Advisor: Pierre Haenecour
Identifying and investigating presolar stardust grains within meteorites that have experienced aqueous processing, which informs our understanding of conditions that existed during Solar System formation.