2026 Galileo Circle Scholarships
Congratulations to LPL's 2026 Galileo Circle Scholarship recipients: Roberto Aguilar, Rahul Arora, Arin Avsar, Namya Baijal, Devin Hoover, Rowan Huang, Cole Meyer, Kayla Smith, and Anna Taylor.
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.
Roberto Aguilar
Advisor: Jack Holt
Advancing the state-of-the-art in drone-based ground-penetrating radar (DGPR) for Mars-analog environments and the development of novel 3D Martian radar volumes using orbital SHARAD data.
Rahul Arora
Advisor: Sukrit Ranjan
Focusing on understanding how planetary interiors shape atmospheric compositions over time and influence their detectability.
Arin Avsar
Advisor: Dániel Apai
Seeking to understand the history and detectability of massive planetesimal collisions in debris disks.
Namya Baijal
Advisor: Erik Asphaug
Actively contributing to the NASA Psyche Mission to better understand the interior composition and origin of the largest known metal-rich asteroid, (16) Psyche.
Devin Hoover
Advisor: Tommi Koskinen
Conducting a comprehensive investigation of the upper atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon by combining the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph instrument data to create a detailed view of Titan’s atmosphere.
Rowan Huang
Advisor: Virginia Gulick
Mapping the morphology of young Martian channels called gullies using high-resolution imagery and topographic data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to test a novel model for gully formation in which impact cratering releases volatiles from the subsurface, forming gullies even in extremely cold environments.
Cole Meyer
Advisor: Walter Harris
Developing a new class of compact, high-resolution spectrometers suited for spaceflight.
Kayla Smith
Advisor: Mark Marley
Focusing on the atmospheric and thermal evolution of brown dwarfs and their implications for habitability and spectral signatures.
Anna Taylor
Advisor: Tommi Koskinen
Researching atmospheric escape, the process by which planets lose mass to space over time, and how it shapes atmospheric composition, structure, and habitability.