Close overhead view of an open field notebook resting on pale mineral-dusted soil, a small soil sampling vial and pencil beside it, natural north-facing daylight, warm ochre and cream tones, soft-focus background of dry grasses
Close overhead view of an open field notebook resting on pale mineral-dusted soil, a small soil sampling vial and pencil beside it, natural north-facing daylight, warm ochre and cream tones, soft-focus background of dry grasses
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— Earth & Planetary Science

Observable systems, measurable ground, deliberate inquiry

This body of work is built from rock records, soil chemistry, and atmospheric analogs — systems you can hold, sample, and return to. Field observation is the method; the questions it raises reach well beyond the field.

Overhead of a weathered rock surface with mineral banding, a gloved hand steadying a small chisel, natural daylight, warm ochre and grey tones, shallow depth of field
Overhead of a weathered rock surface with mineral banding, a gloved hand steadying a small chisel, natural daylight, warm ochre and grey tones, shallow depth of field
Close-up of hands holding a glass vial of dark soil against a bright outdoor background, field equipment visible out of focus behind, north-facing natural light, warm tones
Close-up of hands holding a glass vial of dark soil against a bright outdoor background, field equipment visible out of focus behind, north-facing natural light, warm tones
Wide environmental shot of a dry lakebed at golden hour, the flat pale surface extending to a low horizon, a field researcher crouching at the frame's left third with a notebook, expansive sky above
Wide environmental shot of a dry lakebed at golden hour, the flat pale surface extending to a low horizon, a field researcher crouching at the frame's left third with a notebook, expansive sky above

Three active lines of Earth–planetary inquiry

/ Research threads

Sedimentary record and climate proxies

Soil chemistry and surface mineralogy

Atmospheric analogs and dry environments

Reading past climate states from layered rock sequences — what the stratigraphy preserves, what it omits, and how that shapes interpretation of ancient environments.

Sampling and chemical analysis of surface soils as analogs for planetary regolith — connecting terrestrial field data to questions about habitability elsewhere.

Studying arid and semi-arid sites as functional analogs for thin-atmosphere planetary surfaces — ground-truth data that remote sensing alone cannot supply.

Portrait-framed shot of hands writing in a field notebook, a small rock specimen resting beside it on dry ochre earth, natural north-facing daylight, ink marks visible mid-page, warm and precise
Portrait-framed shot of hands writing in a field notebook, a small rock specimen resting beside it on dry ochre earth, natural north-facing daylight, ink marks visible mid-page, warm and precise
• Method and evidence

Notebooks, sampling, and direct observation

Computational and remote methods inform the work, but they follow from what is collected in the field. Notebooks accumulate before models are built; sampling decisions are made on site, not after the fact.

That sequence matters. It keeps the research tethered to physical reality and produces evidence that students and community partners can trace back to a specific place and time.

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▸ Science in place

Planetary knowledge, grounded in land stewardship

Sustainability questions and land stewardship decisions need the same rigour as planetary science. Connecting those two bodies of evidence is a deliberate part of this practice — not an afterthought.

The same methods used to interpret planetary surfaces — soil chemistry, mineralogy, water signatures — are the methods communities use to understand their own land. This research does not stay in the archive.