Floyd is an assistant professor with research interests in bridging the gap between data science and organic geochemistry/astrobiology. More specifically, he employs unsupervised learning, supervised learning, and probabilistic modelling to unravel hidden patterns and features in organic geochemical and astrobiological datasets.

Outside of work, Floyd enjoys doing landscape and wildlife photography, hiking, cooking, and playing chess.

Email: floydnichols@vt.edu 

Maia is a first-year PhD. student with an interdisciplinary background in earth science and geomicrobiology. Maia will be working on investigating biosignatures from Mars-analog hydrothermal and hypersaline systems.

Outside of work, Maia can be found outdoors, hiking, backpacking, swimming, and crafting.

Swathiga is an aerospace engineering VT graduate now working as a research assistant with Floyd on the mineralogy of samples collected from Greenland using X-ray diffraction (XRD). She is driven by her passion for astrobiology and for using machine learning techniques in biosignature detection.

Portfolio: swathigadevic.com

Outside of school, Swathiga loves glass painting, sketching, reading books, and adventurous activities. The crazier the better, from the fastest roller coasters to bungee jumping and skydiving!

Anya is a senior computational modeling and data analytics major working with Floyd and Dr. Rachel Reid to combine Bayesian statistics, numerical modelling, and supervised machine learning to better understand the impact of climate and vegetation on bat guano.

Outside of school, Anya loves to crochet, play soccer, and read mystery novels! 

Pooja is a senior studying Computational Modeling and Data Analytics with a minor in Computer Science and Math. She is working with Floyd to develop a multi-input convolutional neural network model to improve biosignature detection in Mars-analog environments. 

Outside of school, Pooja loves hiking, playing board games, and watching movies.

Addie is a junior studying Materials Science Engineering. Addie is working with Floyd to better understand the behaviour of organic carbon in Mars-analog hypersaline environments including Bristol Dry Lake, California and the Basque Lakes in British Columbia, Canada.

Outside of school, she enjoys drawing, traveling, watching Premier League soccer, and reading books about astrophysics! 

Personal Website 

Ben is a junior Computer Science major. 

Grant is a junior CMDA major. He is working with Floyd and collaborators from NASA Ames (Dr. Caleb Scharf and Dr. Ryan Felton) to help develop a graphical user interface to help teach machine learning concepts while reducing the barrier to entry from needing coding experience.