Vitae

My curriculum vitae is displayed below, and a PDF Version is available for download.

EDUCATION

Brown University (2014 – 2020) Providence, RI, USA
Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences

  • PhD in Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences (2020)
    – Dissertation: “Advancing Thermal Emission Spectroscopy for Asteroid Compositional and Thermophysical Analyses with Laboratory Experiments in a Simulated Asteroid Environment”
    – Advisors: Dr. R. E. Milliken and Dr. J. F. Mustard

  • MSc in Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences (2016)
    – Thesis: “The geological history of Northeast Syrtis Major, Mars”
    – Advisor: Dr. J. F. Mustard

The University of Western Ontario (2014) London, ON, Canada

  • BSc with Distinction – Honors Specialization in Planetary Science
    – Thesis: “Quantitative grain size determination by two-dimensional micro-X-ray diffraction and its application to the planetary sciences”
    – Advisors: Dr. R. L. Flemming and Dr. P. J. A. McCausland

Memorial University of Newfoundland (2010) St. John’s, NL, Canada

  • BMus (Hons) – Theory and Composition

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

  • Postdoctoral Scholar (2020 - Present)
    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

  • Postdoctoral Research Associate (2020)
    Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University

  • Graduate Student Research Assistant (2014 - 2020)
    Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

  • Graduate Research Assistant (August 2014 – January 2020)
    Planetary Geosciences Group, Brown University, Providence, RI
    – Using laboratory experiments to constrain how infrared emissivity spectra alter due to near-surface thermal gradients produced on airless bodies
    – Analysis of remotely sensed spectral and optical data from Mars, including geomorphological mapping of Northeast Syrtis Major, Mars.

  • Undergraduate Student Research Award (May 2014 – August 2014)
    Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Advisor: Dr. L. L. Tornabene
    – Spectral analysis of Martian surface features using CRISM data.

  • Curatorial Assistant – Western Meteorite Collection (September 2013 – April 2014)
    Advisor: Dr. P. J. A. McCausland
    – Assisted in the curation of meteorites in the Western meteorite collection, Department of Earth Sciences. Analyzed enigmatic vein-coating material in the Tagish Lake meteorite using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction.

  • Undergraduate Student Research Award (May 2013 – August 2013)
    Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Advisor: Dr. P. J. A. McCausland
    – Completed ~750 sample subdivisions of Tagish Lake meteorite material involving descriptions of physical characteristics and curating samples for storage. Lithological investigation of these sample divisions using magnetic susceptibility, helium pycnometry, and X-ray micro computed tomography scanning.

  • Research Assistant – X-Ray Diffraction Laboratory (September 2012 – April 2013)
    Advisor: Dr. R. L. Flemming
    – Operated the two X-ray diffractometers in aid of a variety of research projects. Analyzed and interpreted this data and wrote reports to summarize findings. In total, 37 client XRD datasets were collected, analysed, and interpreted.

  • Advanced Materials and Biomaterials Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Award (May 2012 – August 2012)
    Centre for Advanced Materials and Biomaterials Research. Advisors: Dr. R. L. Flemming, & Dr. J. L. Hutter
    – Designed and built a temperature-controlled sample stage for a micro-X-ray diffractometer. Used the cold stage to characterize High Arctic, temperature-sensitive samples (hydrated sodium sulphate) in situ by micro-XRD.

LABORATORY EXPERIENCE

  • Extensive experience in scientific laboratory equipment operation and maintenance, and data collection and analysis, including: thermal emission spectroscopy, reflectance spectroscopy, micro- and powder-XRD, Rietveld refinement, petrography, SEM–EDX, He pycnometry, magnetic susceptibility, and X-ray micro-CT scanning.

  • Extensive experience in operating environmental chambers at non-ambient temperatures
    and pressures, handling of compress gasses and refrigerated liquids, and
    working in a pressurized cleanroom environment.

  • Proficient at sample preparation, including: powdered samples, thin sections, meteorites,
    whole rock samples, SEM pins, and coated samples; and handling temperature-
    sensitive, time-sensitive, precious, and radioactive materials.

  • Laboratory instruments with formal training and experience:
    – Analytical Spectral Devices FieldSpec 3 Field Spectroradiometer
    – Nicolet Nexus 870 FT–IR Spectrometer
    – Bruker D8 Discover micro-X-ray Diffractometer
    – Bruker D2 PHASER X-ray Diffractometer
    – Rigaku Geigerflex D/MAX X-ray Diffractometer
    – Hitachi 3400-N Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscope
    – Quantachrome Instruments Multipycnometer
    – Sapphire Instruments SI2B Magnetic Susceptibility and Anisotropy Meter

COMPUTER EXPERIENCE

  • Proficient with Windows, Macintosh, and Linux-based operating systems and their native productivity software suites.

  • Proficient and highly experienced with ArcGIS, QGIS, ENVI, ISIS3, GDAL, JMARS, MATLAB, GNU Octave, ImageJ, GIMP, InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

  • Languages: Bash/UNIX, MATLAB, IDL, python, LaTeX.

  • Highly experienced with NASA Planetary Data System data retrieval and image processing for major martian and terrestrial data sets.