My fundamental teaching and mentorship philosophy is that science is a process, and that the best time for students and trainees to start becoming hands-on is as soon as they walk through the classroom door.
For trainees who want a career in the geosciences, instrumentation, or planetary mission science, my strategy is to have them doing research and development as soon as possible. Examples of these activities include using data from active Mars and lunar missions, attending mission telecons, and writing conference abstracts. While most mentees will almost certainly not follow my exact career path, my goal is to have them obtain critical skills (e.g., utilizing GIS software, digital terrain model generation, evaluating peer-reviewed publications, writing proposals) they can use in their next career stage. Ultimately, I view this as doing my part to retain and develop the diversity of talent in the planetary science worker ecosystem I have already benefited so much from.
CU Planetary Science Graduate Seminar
ASTR/ATOC/GEOL 5853 Spring 2023, “Asteroids” graduate seminar (co-taught with Dr. Paul Hayne, ~15 enrolled students)
ASTR/ATOC/GEOL 5853 Fall 2021, “Liquid Water on Mars” graduate seminar (~15 enrolled students)
Mentees and Students
Grace Shore, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) summer intern, CU Astrophysical and Planetary Science Department (Summer 2023), research undergraduate (Fall 2023-present)
Samuel Cartwright, PhD candidate in CU Geosciences department, De Jure advisor (Fall 2022-present)
Dr. Patrick O’Brien, LASP postdoctoral research scholar, co-advisor for funded DDAP projects (November 2022-present)
Alex Innanen, University of York master’s student advised through National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Technologies for Exo/Planetary Sciences internship program, Summer 2020, primary advisor: Dr. John Moores
Dr. Andrew Wilcoski, University of Colorado Boulder, PhD student funded to collaborate on MDAP grant for North Polar Layered Deposits craters, Summer 2020-Summer 2023, primary advisor: Dr. Paul O. Hayne. ~3 months partial support on same MDAP after graduation to work on model validation and archiving.
Worked with 3 teams of ~8 students from Dr. Daniel Kubitschek’s ASEN 5148 “Spacecraft Design” course (Spring 2020) to develop specifications for three different Themis asteroid family mission architectures