Research Projects

This project focused on a variety of sulfide, oxide, and (oxy)hydroxide minerals. LIBS, Raman, and IR spectra were collected for each sample. The spectral data were then processed using unsupervised learning for dimensionality reduction, producing a smaller set of variables. These reduced variables were input into supervised learning models for classification. The goal of this work is to optimize data collection protocols for future in situ underwater missions to ocean worlds.

Metal oxides, hydroxides, (oxy)hydroxides, and sulfides, particularly iron minerals, are widespread at present-day terrestrial hydrothermal vents and are presumed to form on most ocean worlds, such as Europa and Enceladus. The likely presence of iron minerals on ocean worlds may support habitability, as these minerals could facilitate prebiotic chemistry processes relevant to the origins of life. As a result, iron minerals are a promising group of targets to investigate for evidence of prebiotic or biotic processes.

However, detecting these minerals accurately on ocean worlds presents significant challenges due to high communication latencies and low data rates from missions to the outer solar system. Future missions must therefore employ fast and efficient methods to classify specific mineral species. This study is essential for maximizing scientific return, as real-time results will help inform artificial intelligence systems used in mission operations.

Note: Due to the principal investigator, Dr. Laura Rodriguez, moving institutions, the research was conducted at both NASA JPL in the Origins and Habitability Lab (Summers 2021 & 2022) and the Lunar and Planetary Institute (Summers 2024 & 2025). 

Enceladus ejects organics from its plume, which are likely encased in ice. How these organics disperse within the ice shell, particularly in salty environments, remains unclear. Understanding how organic compounds such as amino acids partition in ice and influence crystallization is crucial. Since microbes on Earth inhabit micro-liquid channels in ice, studying the effects of amino acids on brine channels can help assess Enceladus’s potential habitability.

To investigate this, I conducted Raman analysis and microscopy on frozen ice cores doped with amino acids to simulate Enceladus brine. The ice cores were prepared and frozen at -20°C at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

I developed a method to collect Raman spectra of ice samples using a room-temperature laser while keeping the samples cold. Raman analysis was performed with a temperature-controlled Linkam Cooling Stage equipped with a 532 nm laser. The stage maintained a temperature of -150°C to prevent melting and avoid laser-induced heating or phase transitions, even though the samples were initially frozen at -20°C.

After carefully extracting a sub-sample from the ice core, it was placed on a layer of aluminum foil within a plastic weighing boat inside the Linkam Cooling Stage. A modified Styrofoam cup was then lowered to create a thermal barrier, effectively insulating the sample from ambient room temperature. Aluminum foil is Raman-inactive, and the ice is translucent. The plastic weighing boat prevented the frozen brine from contacting the interior of the Linkam stage, avoiding potential corrosion.

In the Raman spectra, I looked for subtle shifts caused by the presence of amino acids and salts. These shifts can indicate changes in the strength of intermolecular bonding based on the polarity of the solution. Of the six amino acids tested, the ice core doped with isoleucine, the least polar of the group, was consistently unstable. It melted more easily and was difficult to stabilize, resulting in fuzzy and noisy spectra.

In June 2016, I began the first of three internships at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), working with the ChemCam instrument on the Mars rover Curiosity under Dr. Nina Lanza. ChemCam is a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument that uses lasers to obtain geochemical data from Martian rocks.

While at LANL, I determined the spatial distribution of manganese oxides in Gale Crater and examined their relationships with other elements to understand their depositional history. My findings revealed a change in manganese oxidation with elevation in the lacustrine Murray formation.

On Earth, manganese does not concentrate in large quantities without liquid water and highly oxidizing conditions. Terrestrial manganese became abundant in the geological record only after the Great Oxidation Event about 2.3 billion years ago, when atmospheric oxygen rose sharply. Today, most terrestrial manganese minerals are formed by microbes. Therefore, manganese deposits elsewhere in the universe have astrobiological implications, as they may indicate past habitability or microbial activity.

In addition to studying Martian manganese, I pressed and mixed geological standards with manganese concentrations into pellets to be analyzed with the ChemCam engineering model at LANL. This work helped revise the LIBS manganese calibration and quantify Martian manganese more accurately. I then recalculated the ChemCam manganese calibration and applied it to Gale Crater data.

As a result of my work at LANL, I presented twice at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference and at the Midwest Regional American Chemical Society Meeting. During my LANL internships, I received a LANL Spot Award and was included as a recipient of a NASA Group Achievement Award for the MSL Extended Mission-1 Science and Operations Team.

My first undergraduate research project was at Kansas State University under Dr. Matthew F. Kirk, a geomicrobiologist. We focused on growing and analyzing manganese oxide samples produced by microbes. Two simultaneous experiments were conducted using different types of microbes: one that produces a biofilm and one that does not.

The goal was to determine the chemical, mineralogical, and structural differences between the two types of manganese minerals. The resulting products were analyzed using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Raman spectroscopy at Kansas State University, and a scanning electron microscope at the University of New Mexico.

For this work, I received a Kansas State University College of Arts and Sciences Research Award. This project was conducted in tandem with my ongoing research at Los Alamos National Laboratory.