Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences

Overview

My research focuses on exploring the geology of planetary surfaces and how we can use remote sensing methods (e.g., satellite, airborne and rover-based data) to address geologic problems. I have 25+ years of experience in working with laboratory and spacecraft data, and prior to joining the faculty at Brown I worked at JPL/Caltech and the University of Notre Dame. I am currently the Director of the NASA Rhode Island Space Grant and NASA Rhode Island EPSCoR programs and have been the Director of the NASA-funded Reflectance Experiment LABoratory (RELAB) facility at Brown since 2012. Specific interests include undestanding the distribution and role of water in the evolution of our solar system, understanding the extent to which reflectance spectroscopy can be used to quantify mineral and volatile abundances in geologic materials, and investigating the sedimentary rock record of Mars. Researchers in my group integrate experiments, theory, and field/spacecraft data to address these questions. I am currently a science team member for the Mars Curiosity rover, Japan's Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return mission, and NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission. 

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas

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