GEOPIG Researchers

I grew up on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. I graduated with a BS from Washington State University and a PhD at Arizona State University. I love playing tabletop roleplaying games with friends and taking on coding challenges. My research interests revolve around interactions between geochemistry and biochemistry in the environment, like quantifying the energetic cost of synthesizing microbial lipids in Yellowstone hot springs. Lately I've been interested in making geochemical modeling more accessible to the public by coding software tools that can be run for free on the Water-Organic-Rock-Microbe (WORM) Portal website (worm-portal.asu.edu).

I grew up in Arizona and attended ASU for my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry. I began working in the GEOPIG lab in 2011 as an undergraduate researcher, transitioned into a lab tech, finally decided I wanted to make research my career, and started my graduate education in spring 2021. I enjoy field work, camping, playing with my dogs, gardening, and riding motorcycles. I'm interested in understanding how hot spring fluids in Yellowstone National Park behave across the seasons and in response to the shallow hydrological system driven by rain and snow. If we can understand how hot springs change seasonally, we can have a better idea of how they might be affected by our changing climate. I am also working to model how water interacts with rhyolitic rock systems at high temperature and pressure. 

I'm from Australia, California, and Texas, and currently attend Arizona State University for geology. I'm in love with geology, hiking, cooking, art, and music. I'm passionate about understanding hydrothermal systems, which includes hot springs. I believe that understanding hot springs requires understanding where the water's coming from. I use geology, geomorphology, and geochemistry to understand how the surface and subsurface are interacting to create the diversity of hot springs we find. My current project is working on mapping the geology of different hot spring regions in Yellowstone and exploring what's making the springs so unique.

I am from Busan, Republic of Korea. I earned my M.S. and B.S. in astronomy and space science from Chungnam National University, Republic of Korea. I am interested in astrobiology. The fundamental question that I seek to answer throughout my research projects is "what are the factors that make planet/satellite habitable?" My current research project focuses on characterizing the chemical conditions of the subsurface ocean of icy moons such as Europa and Enceladus.

I am from Denver, Colorado and attended undergraduate at Augustana College and Whittier College where I was a student athlete playing baseball as well. I’m passionate about spending time outdoors and I love playing sports. I am interested in Astrobiology and the Origin of Life/Evolution.  My current project is focusing on nutrient availability in Hot Springs within Yellowstone National Park. I am interested in how weather and long term climate impacts the microbial community within these hot springs. 

Hi there! I was born in Atlanta, Georgia and got my undergraduate degree in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech. I am passionate about planetary science, coffee, hiking, and most importantly, my cat. Throughout my undergrad I researched the habitability of icy, hypersaline lakes. Now, I am researching hydrothermal organic geochemistry and the implications for life on early Earth and other Ocean Worlds. 

I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C. I attended University of Maryland, College Park where I got my B.S. in Biological Sciences: Microbiology and a minor in Astronomy. After I graduated from UMD and before coming to ASU, I worked at NASA Goddard for two years under Dr. Jen Eigenbrode and Dr. James Lewis where I was doing organic biogeochemistry research on irradiated salts and fatty acids. Currently, my research consists of exploring transformation of organic compounds using computational and experimental methods. Specifically, I look into how cometary materials transform into modern organic compounds found in ocean worlds. Outside of research, I enjoy playing tennis and soccer. I also love watching new movies with friends and spending time outdoors. 

I am from a town called Minooka, Illinois, about an hour south of Chicago. Outside of work, I am passionate about art, music, and plants. My research interests include astrobiology in general but specifically regarding the thermodynamics of life and how to apply this knowledge to life’s origin or the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. I do field research in Yellowstone, where I investigate the thermodynamics of lipid synthesis in hot springs.

I am originally from Anoka, MN and received my bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. I am passionate about making connections between geochemistry and microbiology. My research focuses on ammonia oxidation in hot spring ecosystems. When I am not in the lab, I enjoy baking and climbing.

I was born and raised close to Los Angeles, California. I completed my Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Arizona State University. My research interests revolve around studying volcanic systems' microbial and geochemical processes. When not in the lab, I enjoy cooking, playing golf, and spending time in nature. Currently, I am working on modeling volcanic systems and studying sulfur cycling.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and visited Yellowstone National Park often as a child. Fascinated by Yellowstone’s thermal features, I became passionate about discovering the geologic and volcanic processes that create hot springs. As part of this goal, I use measurements of the surface geochemistry of hot springs to infer the chemical reactions  between water and rock that must occur deep underground. 

I'm Kevin, a Minnesota native and PhD student who is interested in the formation, evolution, and potential habitability of icy moons. My primary research is modeling the structural, thermal, and magnetic history of Jupiter's moon, Europa, using numerical simulations. However, I have a secondary interest in the geochemical consequences of Europa's physical evolution. I graduated from Bowdoin College (2019) with a B.A. in physics and worked in missile defense prior to joining ASU SESE. Outside of research, I enjoy boxing, lifting, cooking, and playing with my pet cockatiel, Acadia.

I'm from the Philadelphia area and completed  my undergraduate work at Ohio Wesleyan University.  After graduating, I wanted to get a bit more  experience in geology and research. So I worked closely with paleontologists at my local Rowan University and the Edelman fossil park. Here, I got a real taste for public outreach and science communication, aspects that I'm presently working to weave  into my future scientific endeavors. I am interested in prebiotic chemistry, and how natural geological processes across our solar system and beyond may facilitate reactions leading to biological precursors.  My current projects are related to the formation of amino acids under planetary conditions. Outside of science, I love spending time with my dogs, knitting, and playing with words.

I was an undergraduate student studying geology and biology at Arizona State. I have a deep passion for studying the natural history of the Earth through the context of vertebrate life. This interest sprouted from spending multiple years volunteering and interning with natural history museums in New York, Arizona, and in my home state, California. I joined GEOPIG with an interest in developing a more foundational understanding of how life interacts with the Earth. My project involved understanding how the large deformational processes of the Yellowstone Caldera may relate to the change in the geochemistry of YNP hot springs.

I am from Albuquerque, NM and a long time resident of Phoenix, AZ. I am a lover all things outdoors from hiking to stargazing as well as sailing!! In my free time, I have built a campervan to explore the National Parks of the US. I am extremely curious about Origins of Life research and very eager to uncover more about how life as we know it came to be and how we can then apply that knowledge to life as we don't know it (yet). I have worked on multiple projects involving Yellowstone NP hot springs, with the goal of understanding the bridge between geochemistry and biology.