People
Researchers
Dr. William Grundy
Dr. Grundy designed and built many of the laboratory's systems for producing and studying samples of low temperature materials. Dr. Grundy uses the laboratory to study the behavior of such materials under conditions relevant to the cold outer solar system. In addition to laboratory experiments, he also studies icy outer solar system bodies using telescopes, theoretical models, and through direct exploration using robotic spacecraft. Dr. Grundy is a co-investigator on NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper belt, and Lucy mission to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.
Email: w.grundy (at) lowell.edu
Dr. Stephen Tegler
Dr. Tegler is a Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science at NAU. He combines laboratory experiments and ground-based telescope observations of Triton, Pluto, and Kuiper belt objects to better understand the origin and evolution of the outer Solar System. In addition, Dr. Tegler uses laboratory experiments to study the resilience of pre-biotic molecules in the young Solar System to irradiation. Such work has implications for the origin and evolution of life on Earth.
Email: stephen.tegler (at) nau.edu
Dr. Jennifer Hanley
Dr. Hanley is a tenure-track Astronomer at Lowell Observatory and Adjunct Faculty at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Current projects include simulating the surface pressure, temperature and composition of Titan to understand how methane, ethane, and nitrogen interact with one another, measuring the stability of cryogenic ices with relevance to outer solar system bodies, and studying salts on Mars and Europa with respect to the stability of liquid water and habitability. She collaborates with other NAU researchers to model chemical interactions of exotic ices, study volatiles and health hazards to astronauts from asteroids, and utilize a Mars chamber for regolith experiments.
Email: jhanley (at) lowell.edu
Dr. Gerrick Lindberg
Dr. Lindberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Physics & Materials Science and the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at NAU. He is interested in the development and application of theoretical models to understand the behavior of molecules in condensed phase systems. In particular, his group makes frequent use of molecular dynamics simulations to understand molecular behavior and predict the observed properties of various systems relevant for the outer solar system.
Lindberg Research Group Website
Email: gerrick.lindberg (at) nau.edu
Current Students
Anna Engle
5th Year PhD Candidate
Anna is a part of the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science. Her current project in the lab is using Raman spectroscopy to investigate the phases and phase transitions of the methane-ethane-propane +dissolved nitrogen system at Titan-like conditions. Anna has also joined the DraGNS (Dragonfly Gamma-ray and Neutron Spectrometer) team, contributing to testing the instrument in preparation for its installation onto the Dragonfly rotorcraft.
Email: aee98 (at) nau.edu
Shaelyn Raposa
4th Year PhD Candidate
Shae is part of in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science. She studies volatile materials on Pluto and other outer solar system bodies, using a combination of laboratory work, modeling, data analysis, and observational studies. She received her undergraduate degree from CU Boulder in 2020, where she researched the effects of a rainstorm on Titan's surface composition, using constraints from models and Cassini VIMS data.
Email: smr676 (at) nau.edu
Cecilia Thieberger
3rd Year PhD Student
Cece is part of the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science. She is studying Titan through a combination of laboratory experiments, ground-based telescope observations, and computational modeling. In the lab, Cece studies the effects of trace species on Titan’s lakes and seas. With her observations using the Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT), she is working to constrain methane abundances on Titan, which will be used to develop her atmospheric modeling project. Cece received her B.A. from Cornell University in 2021, where she worked on the Europa Clipper mission and studied the geomorphology of Pluto through photometric modeling.
Email: clt357 (at) nau.edu
Ana Morgan
2nd Year PhD Student
Ana is part of the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science. In the lab, she is studying spectra of ices that may be present on bodies that reside in the outer Solar System. Her research outside of the lab currently focuses on trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and exploring their size and color distributions. She received her undergraduate degree from CU Boulder where she researched TNOs utilizing stellar occultation with the citizen science project RECON.
Email: anm744 (at) nau.edu
Kendall Koga
Research Assistant
Kendall graduated from NAU in fall 2022 with a BS in physics and astrophysics. As part of the lab, he is working on a prototype for a field-portable goniometer system that can be used to measure directional reflectance properties of planetary surface materials.
Email: kkoga (at) lowell.edu
Collaborators
Dr. Sugata Tan
Planetary Science Institute
Dr. Tan is developing an equation of state (CRYOCHEM 2.0) for vapor/liquid/solid phases at cryogenic conditions with applications for phase equilibria on Titan (atmosphere, atmospheric condensates, lake liquids, subsurface alkanofer), Pluto (atmosphere, surface ices), and other planetary bodies.
Dr. Jordan Steckloff
Planetary Science Institute
Dr. Steckloff received his PhD in computational physics from Purdue University in 2015. As a planetary scientist, he uses theory and numerical models to study geophysical surface processes and their effects of the structure, activity, dynamics, and exospheres of planetary bodies. His current research includes studying (1) the dynamics of Titan’s lakes and their interaction with Titan’s atmosphere; (2) exospheric dynamics on nominally airless bodies; (3) effects of phase changes on cryogenic materials in the outer system; (4) the formation and evolution of “snowfields” on comets; (5) the effects of impacts between comets on their volatile content; and (6) sublimation-driven orbital evolution of small exoplanets.
Dr. David Trilling
Northern Arizona University, Dept. of Astronomy & Planetary Science
Dr. Trilling uses telescopes to understand the formation and evolution of the Solar System and its constituents. This work complements the experimental and computational work done by others in the Astrophysical Materials Lab. Together, this three-faceted approach allows powerful probes of the compositions of bodies in the outer Solar System.
Dr. Mark Loeffler
Northern Arizona University, Dept. of Astronomy & Planetary Science
Dr. Loeffler focuses his research on using laboratory experiments to investigate radiation and thermal processes that alter solid materials ranging from condensed gases to terrestrial minerals. Typically, these materials are directly relevant to extraterrestrial environments, such as asteroids, comets, or icy satellites, such as those orbiting Saturn and Jupiter. To probe these samples in a vacuum environment, he utilizes a variety of experimental techniques, such as ultraviolet to infrared spectroscopy, microbalance gravimetry, and mass spectrometry. His research spans a variety of scientific disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, materials science, and geology.
Dr. Paul Jagodzinski
Northern Arizona University, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Dr. Randy Dillingham
Emeritis, Northern Arizona University, Dept. of Applied Physics and Materials Science
Drs. Dillingham and David Cornelison (now at Missouri State University) were the original designers and builders of the Astrophysical Materials Laboratory. Dr. Dillingham uses x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to study the chemical composition of the upper molecular layers of astrophysical ice samples.
Previous Students
BP Blakley
2023 REU Student
BP used the quartz crystal microbalance to record vapor pressures of volatile species that are relevant to many outer solar system bodies.
Aiden Madden-Watson
NASA Space Grant Student, 2022-2023
Aiden utilized the thin-film system to grow ices from a variety of species that are relevant to the outer Solar System. The project focused on first calibrating the system and then recording optical constants of the ices of interest using FTIR spectroscopy.
Moises Gomez
NASA Space Grant Student, 2022-2023
Alex Jasko
2022 REU Student
Alex helped with getting the thin-film system back up and running after the lab moved to a new space, and also contributed to improving the thin-film system so as to determine the densities of the ices grown.
Jason Libby
NASA Space Grant Student, 2020-2021
HURA Student, 2021-2022
Jason graduated with a BS in Informatics with an emphasis in bioinformatics in 2022. His work in the lab involved simulating eutectic phase behavior on Pluto.
Henry Dawson
2021 REU Student
During the REU, Henry worked on optical constants in thin-film ices. He is now a PhD student at Washington University.
Alex Rosenthal
2021 REU Student
Alex's work focused on using molecular dynamics simulations to determine what happens when Titan-relevant molecules are placed in the methane-ethane-nitrogen system.
Ava Chard
NASA Space Grant Student, 2019-2020
As an undergraduate, Ava worked with the lab through a collaboration with the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at NAU.
Shy Dustrud
MS Chemistry, 2019
Shy's masters thesis work combined molecular dynamics simulations and experiments to better understand molecular systems that are relevant to Titan and Pluto. Now working for ATC in Flagstaff.
Ben Wing
2019 REU Student
Ben aided in the set up of an optical bench for the lab, which allows for concurrent use the Raman FTIR spectrometers, and also ran experiments that involved adding propane to mixtures relevant to Titan's lakes.
Jessica Groven
2018 REU Student
Jessica was a key component in collecting and analyzing data relevant to the two-liquid system in the methane-ethane-nitrogen system.
Garrett Thompson
MS Applied Physics, 2017.
Now at Amazon.
Rachel Huchmala
Space Grant Student, 2017-2018
As an undergraduate, Rachel worked with the lab through a collaboration with the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at NAU. Now a PhD student at University of Washington.
Logan Pearce
2016 REU Student
Logan is currently a PhD student at University of Arizona's Steward Observatory where she characterizes faint planet and brown dwarf companions to young stars. In addition to being part of the REU at the lab she also held a summer internship at the Berkley SETI Research Center.
Fatima Alketbi
2016 REU Student
Terry Stufflebeam
MS Applied Physics, 2016
Nathan Hendler
2014 REU Student
Now a Postdoctoral research associate with the School of Plant Sciences (yes, plant, not planet) at University of Arizona.
Justin Bergonio
2013 REU Student