Spring

The Kuiper Space Sciences Building is getting a fresh look this spring. We're getting new paint on the walls and door frames, and new ceiling tiles. While the Kuiper residents and the crew working around each other was sometimes troublesome for both groups, the results are a huge improvement. Thanks to the UA Facilities Management paint crew for brightening up our spaces! From left to right: Nidia, Adam, Barbara, Charlie, James, Bobby; and Manny, not pictured here.

Postdoctoral Research Associate Alexandre Emsenhuber began working at LPL with Professor Erik Asphaug in February 2018. Alexandre's research focuses on collision processes and linking them with orbital dynamics. Collisions between similar-size bodies often leave multiple remnants. By tracking the remnants, Alexandre aims to determine realistic return scenario, when the remnants further collide or are ejected from the system. Alexandre also has an interest in modeling of giant planet formation by using an approach that combines accretion of solids, gas, orbital migration and dynamical interactions. With this method, he can assess the interactions between the different processes involved in the formation of those planets.

Alexandre grew up in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) where he obtained a B.S. in Physics in (2011). He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Bern with Professor Willy Benz (2017). Alexandre's doctoral research was on impact processes occurring during the formation of planetary systems. He analysed collisions between protoplanets found in theoretical models of planetary formation and modeled specific events that could lead to planetary-scale features, such as the Martian borealis basin. In his free time, Alexandre likes to bike, hike, ski and cook.

Dave Horvath joined LPL in September 2017 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate working with Associate Professor Jeff Andrews-Hanna. His current research focuses on mapping and characterizing what is potentially the youngest volcanic eruption on Mars, a putative pyroclastic deposit in the Elysium Planitia region. He is also interested in the hydrology and ancient climate of Mars. His future work will focus on using hydrologic models and observations from the Mars Science Laboratory on the Curiosity rover to further constrain the evolution of the climate and hydrology of Gale crater and, by extension, Mars.

Dave was raised in Austin, Texas, and did his undergraduate down the road in San Antonio, earning a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in Mathematics (2011) from St. Mary’s University. From there, Dave moved to Golden, Colorado, to study at the Colorado School of Mines, where he received his Ph.D. in Geophysics (2017). His thesis research was focused on characterizing the methane-based hydrological cycle of Titan and investigating the hydrology of Gale crater during the later stages of hydrologic activity. In his free time, Dave enjoys traveling and hiking, climbing—he's summited 14 of the 53 fourteen-thousand foot peaks in Colorado during his stint in Golden—but as an avid board gamer, he also enjoys a relaxed night of sitting around the game table with friends.

by Shane Byrne

This semester we returned to Death Valley after a gap of five years (not coincidently, the graduate student turnover timescale!).

Recent flood damage within the park provided the impetus needed to mix up some of the sites we stopped and camped at. Dante’s View is a great place to see the valley (from the east), but then again, so is Aguereberry Point (from the west). It was at this latter location that we really kicked off our tour of the valley and the closely-packed geological wonders it contains.

A favorite of hydrology students everywhere is the diversion of the enormous Furnace Creek wash through the relatively tiny Gower Gulch. This 1941 engineering adventure led to huge amounts of erosion as the drainage system struggled to return to something approaching equilibrium. All that eroded material goes somewhere—unfortunately it’s dumped on the main park highway, which the park service now bulldozes clear regularly. There’s been clearly visible erosion even since we visited in 2012. Only a small plug of bedrock now separates the main Furnace Creek wash and Gower’s Gulch. Once that goes, the erosion rate will rapidly spike as the Furnace Creek sediment empties en masse through Gower’s Gulch. Sadly, route 190 sits on top of this sediment and so its continued existence hangs by a geological thread. Although an impending logistical disaster for the park, the readjustment of the hydrological system is fascinating for us to watch.

There are few places in the world where so much diverse geology is crammed into such a small area. Dune fields, mud flows, breccia conglomerates, steam explosion craters, old lake shorelines, salt polygons and salt weathered boulders were all on our itinerary are just a sample of what is available. Some things like the sliding rocks of Racetrack Playa can be seen in very few locations and that was well worth the bone-jarring hours of driving it took to get there.

Trips like these are always bonding experiences for us especially when we get to set tents up in 50 mph winds in a dust storm as happened one night. However, several broken tents later we had the ample compensation of a hot meal and good company at the Badwater Saloon!

Tad defended his Ph.D. dissertation, The Atmospheric Circulation and Evolution of Close-In Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets, on April 11. He soon begins a prestigious 51 Pegasi b Fellowship at the University of Chicago, where he plans to continue his research into the atmospheres of Earth-like planets.   

Margaret defended her dissertation, Icy Craters on Mars and Ceres, on May 17. Next up for Margaret is a position at the Planetary Science Institute (Albuquerque), where she will work with Tom Prettyman on the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) instrument on the Dawn mission.

Margaret's research is based on age dating of landscapes with impact craters and simulations of ice stability. She has applied her expertise in this to multiple regions on Mars as well as Ceres. Her work on ice accumulation rates at Mars’ North pole was published in a 2016 GRL paper. Margaret received NSF funding that allowed her to spend summer 2017 at USGS Flagstaff to work on a crater catalog for the South Polar layered deposits. Her recent work on Ceres includes collaboration with the Dawn team and resulted in another first-author paper. 

Margaret is a co-recipient of the 2018 Kuiper Memorial Award and was named Planetary Sciences College of Science Outstanding Scholar for 2018. Other awards include an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and two Galileo Circle Scholarships. In 2017, she was selected to participate in a Keck Institute for Space Science study to advance Mars polar science, and in 2018, she was awarded an LPI Career Development Award. As a student, Margaret was active in service and outreach and won the LPL Outreach award in 2017. Professor Shane Byrne was Margaret's advisor.

LPL extends best wishes to Joe Gotobed, retiring in June after many years of service to the department. Joe began his career at LPL in 1980 as a Programmer III. He has held a variety of titles through the years, retiring as Information Technology Manager, Principal. For nearly 40 years, Joe has been the "go-to" guy for computing at LPL. In the early 1980s, Joe designed and helped build the Kuiper datacenter and network from the ground up. He managed LPL computing's infrastructure through three decades of growth and technological evolution, from the days of punched cards to today's cloud computing. From Pioneer to OSIRIS-REx, Joe's contributions to networking and computing have been an integral part of LPL's success in solar system exploration. 

Second-year student Rachel Fernandes won funding support for travel to the 3rd Advanced School on Exoplanetary Science (ASES3), which was held in Vietri sul Mare (Salerno), Italy, from May 27-31.

Rachel's research interests are planet formation with a background in dynamics of young disks. Her current research focus is on exoplanet characterization and habitability with the NASA NExSS Earths in Other Solar Systems (EOS) team at the University of Arizona. Her advisor is Associate Professor Ilaria Pascucci. Rachel anticipates that attending ASES3 will help her formulate long-range research plans for her graduate work and help her to build professional relationships with international researchers.