Mentor: Mara Freilich

Communities around the Salton Sea in Southern California face poor air quality due in part to dust and odors emanating from the Salton Sea. Established in 2021 as a project of the environmental justice campaign of the grassroots organization Alianza Coachella Valley, the Salton Sea Environmental Timeseries (SSET) is a collaboration between community scientists — who are local residents in the predominantly Latinx and Indigenous environmental justice communities surrounding the Sea —, professional scientists based at universities, and community organizers. Community science aims to transform the material conditions of marginalized communities. 

Research on this project includes geography, public health, biogeochemistry, and physical hydrology. The exact project is flexible depending on the interests of the student, but could include analysis of water quality data collected as part of the community science work, developing a computer-based model of biogeochemistry in the Salton Sea, or synthesizing survey and interview data with physical science results. For all projects, data and results will be developed in close collaboration with community scientists and organizers to be used in advocacy for improved water quality and air quality.

Mentor: Chris Horvat

Anthropogenic climate change is a global public health emergency. Changes to tropical cyclones, and associated waves, winds, storm surge, and extreme rainfall have direct impacts on the health of individuals and the healthcare facilities that serve them. These risks are particularly relevant to geographically dispersed Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) -  which bear an inequitable fraction of climate change impacts and whose healthcare infrastructure is expected to be under pressure in the coming decades. Policymakers must have interpretable, geographically specific, and statistically sound information about future climate-related risks, but face real challenges when accessing relevant data for making decisions. PICTs comprise more than 10,000 islands and atolls, of which several hundred are inhabited. Yet fewer than 5 are large enough to be properly represented by climate models. The contrast between highly localized PICT geographies and coarse climate projections frustrates the ability of stakeholders to evaluate climate-sensitive health risks and consequently climate-change-associated impacts on healthcare infrastructure.

In the EMPIRIC project, which you will join, we are attempting to address this need. Here we are using machine learning to merge scientific developments in high-resolution state estimates of Pacific climate, and statistical modeling of tropical cyclones to build AI-driven estimates of cyclone impacts and extreme weather in PICTs and specifically for the major healthcare facilities that serve them. Your role will be to work with us and with our Pacific partners to develop an AI-driven tool for cyclone and wave inundation by combining several datasets produced by the EMPIRIC and visualizing them using GIS software. It is expected that this will involve communication and collaboration with stakeholders in the Pacific and team members in the region, and will culminate in a contribution to an online data portal hosted by the South Pacific Community (http://www.spc.int/).

Mentor: Colleen Dalton

The viscosity of mantle rocks controls solid Earth dynamics across a vast range of timescales, including: the melting of ice sheets; the annual cycle of groundwater recharge and extraction; and the draining of large lakes. Propagating seismic waves after an earthquake cause mantle deformation at higher frequencies than these processes, and this study will measure seismic wave attenuation to probe the high-frequency response in the mantle beneath Iceland. 

You will download seismic data from several broadband networks across Iceland and measure the travel times and amplitudes of surface waves generated by large earthquakes located around the globe. You will be guided to write simple computer programs in Matlab or Python to determine maps of surface wave velocity from the travel times and maps of attenuation from the amplitudes, which will form the main product of the project. You will consider how their results can be used to estimate temperature and partial melt content in the Icelandic upper mantle. You will compare your attenuation values to other viscosity estimates from ocean tidal loading and GPS-measured deformation that are being collected by collaborators at other U.S. institutions. You will gain skills like writing computer programs, and analyzing seismic data.  You will also experience working as part of larger team by interacting with scientists at other institutions.

Mentor:  Harriet Lau

The collapse of the extinct North American ice sheet some 14,000 years ago triggered Melt Water Pulse 1A, an event captured in paleo-sea level records that point to a dramatic rise in global mean sea level of ~20 m within ~500 years. The pattern and rate of sea level rise rests on how the solid Earth (crust and mantle) deforms in response to the shifting of surface mass (ice and ocean). To date, investigations of the solid Earth response assume simple models of mechanical deformation: ice can melt steadily or quickly, and the same Earth properties (e.g., Earth’s rigidity and viscosity) are applied. Moreover, constraints on these properties are biased by slow melt processes for viscosity and very fast seismic processes for rigidity. Melt Water Pulse 1A and ongoing climate change represent intermediate ice mass changes, and to accurately predict sea level change in the face of diminishing ice sheets today, more complex Earth deformation must be considered. 

We will use Melt Water Pulse 1A as an analog for future sea level rise. By using computer-based modeling, to understand the role of complex Earth structure in the face of climate change, you will apply both the established and revised understanding of Earth deformation to analyze how different the two models predict sea level change in response to Melt Water Pulse 1A. This project will equip you with technical (mathematical and computational) skills and build an appreciation for the interdisciplinary nature of Earth science research today.

Mentor: Karen Fischer

In the western Antarctic rift system, extension over more than 85 million years has thinned the crust and the mantle lithosphere of the continent, and adjacent to the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, ongoing subduction of lithosphere continues to release water and promote melting in the shallow mantle, also likely thinning the lithosphere of the upper plate.  Existing models of seismic wave velocities indicate that warm and low viscosity asthenosphere at relatively shallow depths beneath these regions, but more precise estimates of lithospheric thickness are possible.  Better constraints on lithospheric thickness are important for modeling the strength (rigidity and viscosity) of the mantle beneath western Antarctic, and understanding how the solid Earth will respond to changes in surface loading from the melting ice sheet and how water will be redistributed, affecting sea-level rise.

You will analyze seismic body waves from distant earthquakes recorded at stations in the western Antarctic rift system and the Antarctic Peninsula to measure lithospheric thickness.  You will interpret observed variations in lithospheric thickness relative to the candidate tectonic processes that could have created them, for example rifting and the effects of subduction, and will assess their implications for models of mantle viscosity (a measure of the strength of mantle rocks).  Through this work, you will gain experience with the analysis of seismic data, working with existing computer codes, writing some new code, and interacting with a scientific team to interpret results.

Mentor: Yan Liang 

Pyroxene is a major-rock forming mineral in mafic and ultramafic rocks. Major and trace element zoning in pyroxene has often been observed in natural samples. The goal of this project is to use major and trace concentrations in pyroxene, geothermometry, and diffusion modeling to unravel the thermal history of selected mafic and ultramafic rocks.  Potential samples include peridotites and pyroxenites from the Trinity ophiolite, mantle xenoliths from the North China Craton, and cumulate rocks from the Bushveld Igneous Complex.  

You will be involved in sample preparation, and will also use a petrographic microscope to identify pyroxene and associated minerals in the samples. You will use the electron microprobe to measure major and minor element concentrations and concentration profiles in the pyroxenes. You will work closely with the PI to interpret the measured chemical data through applications of geothermometry and diffusion modeling.

Mentor: Blake Hodgin

Pleistocene glacial ice sheet advance and retreat in North America was driven by climate change, which resulted in sea-level fluctuations of greater than 100 meters. Our understanding of Pleistocene climate change from recent geological deposits can inform ongoing challenges to understand, quantify, and predict the effects of human-induced climate change to existing ice sheets. A proposed case study at Block Island in southernmost Rhode Island can inform a poorly understood interval of glacial re-advance that took place during the last glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago.  Questions related to the re-advance include whether it was related to regional conditions or to a climate perturbation that could be correlated to re-advance elsewhere. 

To test these hypotheses, you will be involved in field work to characterize folding and faulting related to ice-sheet re-advance, radiocarbon and cosmogenic dating of the deformed sediments to constrain the timing of re-advance, and a synthesis of existing data related to ice re-advances around the time of the last glacial maximum. As Block Island is an important historical and ecological site, the research project will include opportunities for sharing findings with the community and engaging in ecological outreach.

Mentor: James Russell

The interactions between climate change, wildfire, and water cycling are well-studied in many mountain regions, such as the western United States, where forest fires are very frequent. In contrast, these interactions are poorly studied in tropical mountains, which are often considered to exist in a climate that is too cool and moist to burn. However, recent events suggest that wildfire may also be an emerging threat to tropical mountains and their unique ecosystems. This project seeks to assess the effects of changes in climate on fire frequency in tropical mountains, and the impacts of fire on tropical montane vegetation and flooding. A key goal is to test the hypothesis that changes in fire regimes in tropical mountain environments are influenced by temperature change, rather than precipitation changes that dominate fire frequency in the lowlands.

You will generate organic geochemical, sedimentological, and/or microfossil records of temperature and rainfall, flooding, and fire from lake sediment cores recovered from alpine environments in the Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda. Specific analyses can be tailored to your skills and interests, from isotope and geochemical records of climate to plant fossil records of fire.  You will develop skills in laboratory analyses, data analysis, hypothesis testing, and data visualization.

Mentor: Timothy Herbert

This project will involve lab work and micropaleontology to study deep sea sediment cores along a transect (S-N) of sites in the flow path of the North Atlantic Current, the major source of heat to the North Atlantic and Arctic. The project will trace the evolution of ocean surface temperatures in relation to global cooling and the onset of ice ages over the time period 4 Million years to present. The major research question would be to determine whether temperature gradients, an index of heat transport, evolved in parallel with global climate change. 

You will learn organic biomarker geochemistry (our main proxy for ocean temperatures), a field that involves organic chemistry and the use of gas chromatography. Other skills learned would be stratigraphy (the ordering and dating of past events), statistical inference, and basic lab skills of accuracy and reproducibility of analytical data. Your ultimate learning goal will be to better understand how we reconstruct past climate change, and what these changes may imply for our future.

Mentor: Jung-Eun Lee

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report suggests that the interior of continents will be drier with anthropogenic warming. As a result, tree coverage is expected to become lower with increasing greenhouse gas concentration when the present-day climate-vegetation relationship obtained from machine learning is applied to the “business as usual” climate change scenario of the future climate. Our preliminary modeling study suggests that under higher CO₂ conditions, plants can grow better in hotter and drier regions, and also at higher latitudes due to longer growing seasons.  These changes occur because vegetation cover decreases high latitude albedo, and plants may be using water more efficiently in higher CO₂ conditions, suggesting that the vegetation-climate relationship is not static. Thus, we hypothesize that the warmer world is greener if we include the full vegetation feedback.

This project will explore how we can resolve the discrepancy between the model prediction of future browning and paleoproxy indication of past greenness using climate model simulations with the NCAR CESM (Community Earth System Model) with a dynamic vegetation model. You will run the NCAR CESM climate model using Eocene paleogeography and will analyze the climate model results. You will be able to learn how to run a climate model and how to analyze climate data using Python or Matlab.

Mentor: Meredith Hastings

The isotopic composition of various reactive nitrogen species is a powerful tool to investigate variations in sources, chemistry, atmospheric transport, and deposition. Our aim is to use geochemical techniques to fingerprint emission sources and track their impact, influence, and potential feedbacks in an urban landscape. Recent discoveries include a significant increase in ammonia in urban environments due to vehicles with implications for poor air quality, especially in winter, and poor water quality via local deposition and stormwater runoff to the largest estuary in New England.

You will be trained and involved in field sample collections, laboratory analyses, and data analysis and interpretation. Field collection will involve utilizing novel techniques for simultaneous collection of gases and particulate matter. You will learn: collection methods for gas and particulate samples; wet chemistry techniques for preparation of standards; general training in calibration and standardization; concentration analyses via spectrophotometric methods; isotope determination via isotope ratio mass spectrometry; experimental design and sampling strategy for field sampling; data analysis and interpretation of results based on background reading.

Mentor: Emily Cooperdock 

The Twin Sisters Mountains in Washington are a 6 by 16 km exposure of peridotites from the Earth's mantle, the largest continuous exposure of mantle rocks in North America. Once peridotites are exposed near Earth's surface, their primary minerals (i.e., olivine, pyroxene) are unstable in the presence of water and break down to form serpentine and other alteration minerals. The Twin Sisters contain some of the best exposed and least altered displays of mantle rocks in the world, with only a 0-15% volume serpentinization in the core of the mountain evolving to 100% serpentinization on the flanks and within faults. The process of serpentinization weakens the rocks (enabling faulting), and records information key to understanding how the Twin Sisters got to the surface in the first place. Namely, we can use the serpentine mineralogy and their stable isotopes to unravel the temperature and fluid composition of these fluid-rock interactions.

This project combines geochemistry and petrology with structure and tectonics. The student will participate in hands-on data collection using 1) X-ray diffraction for mineral identification and 2) oxygen and hydrogen isotope analyses for fluid composition on serpentine minerals in the Cooperdock and Ibarra laboratories. The student will gain experience in sample preparation, data analysis, analytical methods, and interpretations. The results of this research will shine light on whether the fluid-rock interactions observed at Twin Sisters happened on the seafloor or subaerially, the relationship between serpentinization and fault development, and will help unravel the mystery of where the Twin Sisters came from. 

Mentor: Greg Hirth

The largest and most damaging earthquakes occur along plate boundaries where the lithosphere is subducted beneath the continents. Geoscientists have discovered that a wide range of fault slip processes occur in these regions. However, there are still gaps in our knowledge of the critical physical properties that lead to earthquakes. We have made new modifications to our experimental equipment that significantly improves our ability to characterize the fault slip behavior that occurs within subduction zones. Experiments will provide new constraints necessary to understand the conditions where earthquake slip initiates. The results will also provide data relevant for leveraging the potential of geothermal energy, and mitigating the danger of nucleating earthquakes while storing CO2 in the crust. 

In the lab, you will learn how to conduct experimental tests on the physical properties of rocks, how to characterize specimens using standard and electron microscopes, and how to analyze the experimental data with computer programs like MatLab. There is also the potential to interact with our larger community through CORD (Collaborative Organizations for Rock Deformation) – a group that includes scientists at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 

Mentor: Alexander Evans

It has been well established that volcanic eruptions on rocky worlds can generate domical structures (i.e., volcanoes), where the slopes and sizes of the volcanoes are directly related to the properties of the magma and eruption events. Although volcanic eruptions have been suggested to have occurred on metal-rich planetary bodies like Psyche and ice-rich planetary bodies like Ceres, it remains unclear if such eruptions can also form volcanoes. Hence, the goals of this project will be 1) to rigorously examine the plausibility of volcanoes on icy and metal worlds by applying our understanding of the geomechanical and rheologic properties of volcanic edifice-forming eruptions on Earth and 2) to determine whether volcanoes are likely to be an exclusively characteristic landform of Earth and other rocky worlds. This project will provide important context for understanding Earth’s history, evolution, and long-lived volcanism.

Through computational modeling and analytical analyses, you will: 1) identify whether Earth-like volcanic eruptions can occur on planetary bodies like Psyche and Ceres, 2) examine the conditions necessary for volcanic edifices to form on Earth and other worlds, and 3) evaluate whether Earth and other rocky worlds are exclusively capable of forming volcanic edifices.  Through this project, you will: 1) develop an understanding of fundamental physical processes that operate across Earth and other planetary bodies, 2) develop the ability to simplify and approximate key physical processes that operate across Earth and other planetary bodies, and 3) develop an understanding of data commonly used to understand the physical processes related to the evolution of planetary bodies.

Mentor: Daniel Ibarra

Triple oxygen isotopes (18O/16O and 17O/16O) are a powerful tool for tracing terrestrial and planetary processes, and are widely used for meteorite classification. Despite significant work on the topic, based on oxygen isotopes, lunar meteorites and Apollo return samples are ambiguous in the degree of homogenization between Earth and the Moon-forming impactor ‘Theia’. Further, limited oxygen isotope data exists for a rapidly expanding group of recently discovered meteorites thought to have originated from Mars. As such, refining the expected variations and differences in the triple oxygen isotope composition of Earth, Moon and Mars has important implications for solar system evolution and is relevant for analyses of future return samples.

This project will involve compilation and re-normalization of all existing terrestrial (primarily igneous), lunar and martian triple oxygen isotope datasets from the literature and Meteoritical Bulletin, and mineral separation and analysis of meteorites for triple oxygen isotope composition in the Ibarra laboratory. In doing so we anticipate that the student will gain experience with dataset analysis, analytical methods in oxygen isotopes, and contribute to a growing body of work utilizing oxygen isotopes to study planetary processes.

Mentor: Sam Birch

Comets represent some of the most primitive bodies of our solar system, holding significant importance as they preserve materials that ultimately went into building the planets and life itself. The Rosetta mission to comet 67P has opened the doors to a new era of small-body geology by allowing us to directly interrogate the processes that are responsible for modifying cometary surfaces at the meter scale over which they occur. For the first time, we can resolve sediment transport across a cometary surface in exquisite detail. Our goal is to study 67P’s landscape evolution by tracking its dominant sediment transport pathways. For this, we will be measuring the changes in sediment levels as a function of time, relative to static landforms such as boulders and cliffs in targeted regions of interest. The measurements will be made by employing the photoclinometry (or shape-from-shading) technique to generate digital terrain models (DTMs). 

This project will involve working with a large dataset of images for 67P's surface acquired by the Rosetta mission, and generating DTMs over several target regions on the comet. The student will gain experience working with planetary datasets, python, and Linux/Unix systems, along with learning how planetary topographic datasets are generated and used by scientists.

Mentor: Alex Evans

The Moon’s surface has been dramatically altered by giant impacts. These collisions excavate material from deep within the lunar crust and mantle, redistributing it across vast distances—sometimes spanning hundreds or thousands of kilometers. As the ejecta from these impacts lands, it creates secondary craters and mixes with local lunar materials. The size of the original impact crater and the distance that the ejecta travels are key factors influencing the composition of the final deposits, affecting the ratio of ejecta material to local lunar materials.

This project aims to examine the relationship between the surface distributions of iron oxide (FeO₂), titanium (Ti), and thorium (Th) on the Moon, particularly in relation to the ejecta from giant impacts such as the Orientale basin. By developing mathematical models of crater ejecta and analyzing compositional surface data, we will explore how these elements are distributed across the lunar surface and how they correlate with impact events. Students with experience in Python programming are highly encouraged to apply. This project is an excellent opportunity to enhance research and data analysis skills while contributing to our understanding of the Moon’s impact history and elemental composition.
 

Mentor: Chris Huber

The Moon has undergone extreme chemical differentiation early in its history during a magma ocean stage. The cooling and crystallization of a magma ocean operates from the top-down and likely shifted from fast cooling and crystallization suddenly to slow cooling after a buoyant crust formed. The dynamics of melt-crystal separation,  fundamental to chemical differentiation, is significantly different during these two distinct stages. This project aims at studying the efficiency of the lunar magma ocean to produce the observed chemical differentiation. What is the relative contribution of these two stages, rapid cooling before the creation of a buoyant and stable crust and slow cooling after.  This project will be modeling based and the student involved will learn how to develop simple mass balance equations associated with the project and how to use computer models to solve them.
 

Mentor: Jack Mustard

There is great interest in seeking any signs of water on the Moon as NASA prepares to send humans. Remotely sensed data from telescopes and orbiters are under intense scrutiny to find the key signposts that point to where we might find those signs of water.  At Brown we are exploring a unique wavelength region using laboratory observations of Lunar and Earth samples to develop exploration tools. Interpretation of remotely sensed data requires laboratories to build understanding and new tools.  The student will work with faculty and students in analysis of laboratory data to quantitatively test algorithms and remotely sensed data seeking the signs of water.
 

Mentor: Stephen Parman

The proposed project is to assess whether pyroclastic deposits on the Moon could act as water resources for future exploration and habitation. Water is a key resource for exploration of the Moon. The focus of the Artemis program on the lunar south pole is in large part driven by the discovery of water ice in permanently shadowed craters near the poles. However, the amount of water in these deposits may not be as large as previously thought, crater floors can be difficult to access and the polar environment is particularly difficult to work in. For these reasons, finding alternative sources of water on the Moon is desirable. In the project, the student would catalog the locations and volumes of pyroclastic deposits on the Moon and estimate the total amount of water contained in them. Using this information, along with other constraints on in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), the pyroclastic deposits will be ranked. If time allows, a concept mission could be developed to explore one of these deposits.
 

Mentor: Stephen Parman

Every year, hundreds of meteorites fall to the Earth. A small number of these are actually pieces of the Moon, which were ejected by large impacts. The summer project will involve analyzing lunar meteorite samples using the electron microprobe housed in DEEPS. This device allows the sample to be imaged and chemically analyzed at the micron scale. The data will be compared with the existing lunar data, and used to interpret the formation and history of the Moon. Students will work closely with Prof. Stephen Parman and Dr. Joseph Boesenberg, and will get first-hand experience running the microprobe, reducing the data and interpreting the results. Students may get enough data over the summer to present a poster at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston. A background in basic chemistry and math would be very useful, as would some knowledge of geology and mineralogy. This project could involve 1 or 2 students.
 

Mentor: Ingrid Daubar, Collaborator: Andrea Rajšić

Lunar mission landers operate directly on the Moon's surface, making it essential to understand the composition and structure of lunar regolith (soil). This knowledge is critical in selecting landing sites for future missions, including NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon. In this project, we will analyze high-resolution images of the Moon to gain insights into the characteristics of the lunar regolith. On airless planetary bodies like the Moon, meteoroid impacts expose materials from beneath the surface. Therefore, small, newly-formed impact craters offer valuable information about the thickness and properties of the Moon’s upper crustal layers.

Here, we plan to use fresh meter-sized impact crater shapes to infer regolith thickness on the Moon. You will help map fresh lunar craters across different geological units. Further, you will classify craters according to their morphological characteristics. You will use this dataset to infer the thickness and mechanical properties of the uppermost layers on the Moon. You will combine this information across various geological areas and help us understand the evolution of the lunar surface. Through this project, you will learn about the geology of the Moon and the physics of impact cratering processes, and you will gain skills in Geographical Information System (GIS) tools and remote sensing data analysis.