Education
PhD, Planetary Sciences (2007–2010)
Birkbeck College, University of London, and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
MEarthSci, Earth Sciences (2003–2007)
Worcester College, University of Oxford
Master’s thesis: Palaeomagnetic estimation of pyroclastic flow deposit emplacement temperatures at Volcán de Colima, Mexico
Short (10-week) course, Science Communication: People, projects, events (2016)
University of the West of England
Online course created to offer professional development for people new to science communication who want to develop their skills and knowledge in science communication practice. Course units included: (1) The historical and social contexts of science communication; (2) Understanding audiences; (3) Project planning; (4) Project management; (5) Designing face-to-face activities; (6) Facilitation skills; (7) Presentation skills; (8) Working with the media; and (9) Evaluation.
Professional experience
Program Officer & Executive Scientist to Planetary Science Division Director (2018–present)
NASA Headquarters (Planetary Science Division)/Arctic Slope Technical Services
Visiting Investigator (2014–present) & MESSENGER Postdoctoral Fellow (2011–2014)
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington DC
Freelance science writer and editor (2012–present)
Communications Manager (2016–2018)
Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering, Imperial College London
Intern (2015)
Science Media Centre, London
Lunar Exploration Summer Intern (2008)
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Invited talks and seminars
Mercury Exploration: Past, Present, and Future
2023 Geological Society of Washington (voted 2nd best paper of 2023)
Look, but don’t touch! Exploring Mercury from orbit
2017 Think Space lecture series, Royal Observatory Greenwich, London, UK
Geochemistry of Mercury’s surface: Results from MESSENGER
2015 Joint MESSENGER-BepiColombo Workshop, Berlin, Germany
Mercury after 3.5 years of MESSENGER’s orbital mission
2014 Centre for Planetary Sciences, UCL/Birkbeck, London
The surface composition of Mercury from MESSENGER data
2013 Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX
2013 Joint MESSENGER-BepiColombo Workshop, Chicago, IL
The distribution of magnesium on Mercury’s surface as measured by the MESSENGER X-Ray Spectrometer
2013 Geological Society of America, Denver, CO
Regional-scale chemical heterogeneity on Mercury
2013 European Planetary Science Congress, Madrid, Spain
What on Earth is Mercury made of? Geochemical results from MESSENGER
2012 Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Washington, DC
2012 Centre for Planetary Sciences, UCL/Birkbeck, London
2012 Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Dead, grey, and… boring?
2011 American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
Impact craters: Windows through lava flows
2010 Centre for Planetary Sciences, UCL/Birkbeck
Teaching
2010 Guest lecturer for Geology of Planetary Bodies, UCL
2009 Guest lecturer for Planetary Geology, Royal Holloway
2008 Teaching assistant for Geology of the Solar System, Birkbeck College
Community involvement
Science team member:
MESSENGER mission
Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer
Member:
American Geophysical Union
UK Planetary Forum
Journal reviewer:
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Icarus
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer
Grant reviewer:
Group chief, panelist, and external reviewer for several NASA review rounds (2012–2017), e.g., data analysis, instrument development, mission instrument payload, and participating scientist programs
Official microblogger:
Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, TX, 2016 & 2019
Awards
2017 NASA Group Achievement Award, MESSENGER Project Team
2010 Barringer Crater Student Travel Award
2010 NASA Lunar Science Institute Travel grant
2008 UCL Graduate School Student Conference Award
2007 Science and Technology Facilities Council CASE PhD student fellowship
2005 Weizmann Institute Summer Research Internship
2005 Worcester College Oppenheimer Award
2005 Worcester College Travel Award
2005 Batya Lyons Memorial Fund Award
Computer skills
Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook, Sharepoint
Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign
Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Googleblogger
Content management systems: WordPress, t4 Site Manager
LaTeX
IDL
ArcGIS