Ariel Deutsch
Ph.D. candidate at Brown University
+ NASA Graduate Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center
Hi, world! I'm a Ph.D. student interested in using remote sensing + geophysical techniques to unravel the evolution of other planetary bodies, with a particular focus on volatiles and volcanism.
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Education
Brown University
Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Ph.D. Candidate (expected graduation May 2020)
Advisor: Prof. James W. Head III
NASA Technical Advisor: Dr. Gregory A. Neumann (GSFC)
M.S. (2017)
Advisor: Prof. James W. Head III
NASA Technical Advisor: Dr. Gregory A. Neumann (GSFC)
Committee Members: Prof. Carle M. Pieters, Prof. James M. Russell
The College of William & Mary
Department of Geology
B.S. (2014)
Advisor: Dr. Joel S. Levine (Department of Applied Science)
Committee Members: Prof. Christopher M. Bailey, Prof. Heather Macdonald, Prof. Eugene Tracy (Department of Physics)
Research Experience
NASA Graduate Fellow
Planetary Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Laboratory
Advisor: Dr. Gregory A. Neumann
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
2016 - present
NASA/APL Intern
MESSENGER Science Operations Center
Advisor: Dr. Nancy L. Chabot
Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
Summer 2015
NASA/APL Intern
MESSENGER Science Operations Center
Advisor: Dr. Nancy L. Chabot
Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
Summer 2014
NASA/APL Intern
MESSENGER Science Operations Center
Advisor: Dr. Nancy L. Chabot
Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
Summer 2013
Research Assistant
Laboratory of Analytical Biology
Advisor: Director Lee A. Weigt
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Summer 2012
Research Intern
Laboratory of Analytical Biology
Advisor: Director Lee A. Weigt
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Summer 2011
Awards and Honors
Funding
NASA AS&ASTAR Graduate Fellow, Goddard Space Flight Center (2016-present)
Society of Exploration Geophysicists Award, Earl D. & Reba C. Griffin Memorial Scholarship (2018-2019)
Brown Fellow, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences (2015-2016)
Roland G.D. Richardson Fellow, Brown University (2015-2016)
Virginia Space Grant, Applied Physics Laboratory (Summer 2014)
Honors
JPL Planetary Science Summer Seminar (Concept Study: A Bridge to an Interstellar Object) (2019)
Caltech Space Challenge (Concept Study: Etna to Enceladus) (2019)
LPI Career Development Award (2019)
Best Poster Award, International Symposium on Lunar and Planetary Science (2018)
Sigma Xi Honorary Scientific Society Associate Member (2018-present)
William & Mary Young Alumni Fellow (2017)
High Honors (Highest distinction), Department of Geology, College of William & Mary (2014)
Invited Talks
MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (1 Oct 2019)
"Sources and evolution of polar ice on Mercury and the Moon"
Microsympisum 60, The Woodlands, TX (16 Mar 2019)
"An Example of Working with Commercial Partners: The OrbitBeyond Lunar Mare Imbrium Lava Flow Design Reference Mission"
Mercury: Current and Future Science of the Innermost Planet, USRA HQ (2 May 2018)
"Differences between surface ice deposits at the poles of Mercury and the Moon: Insights into ages of the ice"
Research Matters Nominee and Selected Speaker, Brown University (4 Nov 2017)
"Ice on Mercury, The Moon, and Beyond"
SSERVI/NESF Autonomy for Future SMD Missions Workshop, NASA Ames Research Center (21 July 2017)
"Exploration of water ice and organics at the poles of Mercury"
LunGradCon, NASA Ames Research Center (17 July 2017)
"The Geology and Geophysics of the Moon"
Microsymposium 57, The Woodlands, TX (19 March 2016)
"Mercury’s Polar Deposits as Revealed by MESSENGER Mission Image Data: Correlation of Radar Bright Deposits and Large PSRs"
Travel Grants
Larry Taylor Travel Fund Award (2019)
Mercury: Current and Future Science of the Innermost Planet Young Scientist Travel Award (2018)
Graduate School Council Travel Award, Brown University (2018)
LunGradCon Travel Grant (2016, 2017, 2019)
Brown University International Travel Grant (2016, 2018)
Brown University Graduate Travel Grant (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
2016 - present
2018 - 2019
2015 - 2016
2015 - 2016
Summer 2014
2019
2019
2019
2018
2018 - present
2017
2014
1 Oct 2019
16 Mar 2019
2 May 2018
4 Nov 2017
21 July 2017
17 July 2017
19 March 2016
2019
2018
2018
2016, 2017, 2019
2016, 2018
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Mission Experience
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Graduate Research Fellow at GSFC in the Planetary Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Laboratory. Utilizing LOLA, Diviner, and WAC data to analyze characteristics of surface and subsurface ice at the lunar poles. Utilizing LOLA and Diviner data to analyze temperature-dependent changes in the surface reflectance of the Moon. Project Scientist: Dr. Noah E. Petro.
MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER)
Summer research intern in the Science Operations Center from 2014 - 2016. Utilized MDIS and MLA data to study the distribution of permanently shadowed regions, the distribution and characteristics of water-ice deposits, and the morphology of impact craters on Mercury. Presented at MESSENGER Science Team Meetings. Mission PI: Dr. Sean C. Soloman.
Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)
Graduate Research Fellow at GSFC in the Planetary Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Laboratory. Utilizing gravitational and topographic data to constrain subsurface density structures that may contribute to positive Bouguer gravity anomalies on the nearside of the Moon. Mission PI: Dr. Maria T. Zuber.
Science from Lunar Permanently Shadowed Regions (Concept Study)
Science Lead participating in a mission concept study to further our understanding of the volatile contents in lunar permanently shadowed regions. Compelling mission science is focused on ground-truthing existing data and analyzing processes that modulate volatile distribution, the activity and transport of volatiles, volatile composition and chemistry, and thermophysical and geotechnical properties of permanently shadowed regions. Study PI: Dr. Dana M. Hurley.
OrbitBeyond, Inc. (NASA CLPS Provider)
Student co-lead in collaboration between Brown University and OrbitBeyond, a US-based lunar transportation company. Helping to provide regional geologic context of landing sites and to develop a set of scientific targets and observational parameters to integrate science activities into upcoming missions.
Etna to Enceladus (Concept Study)
Science PI in the Caltech Space Challenge 2019. Worked together with 15 other internationally selected students to design a landed sample assay + geophysical network to explore the habitability of Enceladus under the constraints of New Frontiers requirements. Benefited under mentorship from JPL's A-Team and industry leaders. [Mission Fact Sheet]
Bridge (Concept Study)
C&DH lead and science team participant (geology and geophysics group) in the 2019 JPL Planetary Science Summer Seminar. Our team designed Bridge to study an as-of-yet undetected InterStellar Object. Flyby science consists of VIS-NIR-MIR spectral observations of the object's surface, as well as the object's sub-surface, enabled by a detached impactor.
Professional Activities and Service
2018
2018
2017
2016
2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
2019
2019
2018
2018
2018
2018, 2019
2017 - 2019
2017 - present
2017 - present
2016 - 2017
2016 - present
2016 - present
2018 - present
1 Aug 2019
14 Nov 2018
9 Oct 2018
2018
2018
2016
Contributions
Contributing Writer, White Paper on the Lunar Polar Volatiles Workshop (2018)
Lead: Dr. Kathleen E. Mandt
Contributing Writer, White Paper on the Case for Landed Mercury Exploration and the Timely Need for a Mission Concept Study (2018)
Lead: Dr. Paul K. Byrne
Contributing Writer, New Views of the Moon 2, Lunar Volatiles Chapter (2017)
Leads: Dr. Dana M. Hurley and Dr. Matthew A. Siegler
Executive Notetaker, SSERVI Special Workshop: Lunar Volatiles (2016)
Student Organizer, Microsymposium Conference, Woodlands TX (2016, 2017, 2018)
Reviews
Reviewer, JGR Planets (2019)
Reviewer, Nature Geoscience (2019)
Reviewer, Icarus (2018)
NASA External Reviewer, Solar System Workings (2018)
Proposal Reviewer, Mercury Task Group, International Astronomical Union (2018)
Dwornik Judge for Undergraduate Presentations, LPSC (2018)
Department Service, Brown University
Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWiSE) Co-President (2017-2019)
First-Year Graduate Student Mentor (2017-present)
Diversity Working Group (2017-present)
GeoClub Co-President (2016-2017)
Student Mentoring
Spacecraft Design Engineering, Brown University (2016-present)
Brown-Stanford Team Review, International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition (2016-present)
Writing Center Associate, The Writing Center, Brown University (2018-present)
Panelist, The Leadership Alliance, Brown University
"What's Grad School Like?" (1 Aug 2019)
Panelist, The CareerLAB, Brown University
"Succeeding in Graduate School" (14 Nov 2018)
"Making the Graduate School Decision" (9 Oct 2018)
Professional Memberships
American Geophysical Union (AGU) (2018)
Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) (2018)
Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) (2018)
Field Experience
The Sedimentary Rock Cycle on Mars and Earth, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico (Brown University)
Conducted sedimentary descriptions and structural mapping of the Permian platform and basin outcrops of the Guadalupe mountains, terrestrial analogs for the chemical sedimentary rocks on the surface of Mars.
Biosignatures and the Search for Life on Mars, Nordic Summer School, Iceland (NASA/ESF)
Compared microbial abundances in the fresh Holuhraun lava field to those in river sediments to discuss implications for habitable environments on early Mars.
Changes in Ecuadorian Forestry Detected through GIS, Coastal Ecuador (The College of William & Mary)
Modeled the species distribution of red, white, and black mangroves in Ecuadorian estuaries and mapped the displacement of mangroves by shrimp farms since 1970 through orbital imagery.
Tropical Reef Environments, Gerace Research Center, San Salvador, Bahamas (The College of William & Mary)
Collected and analyzed core samples from the hypersaline Storr’s Lake to determine (1) sediment stratigraphy, (2) whether the lake’s contents originate locally or are allochthonous, and (3) whether carbonate production is dominantly organic or inorganic.
Identification of Fish Species through DNA Barcoding, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama (Smithsonian Institution)
Assembled DNA barcodes for fish species from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene for genetic identification of previously uncatalogued fish species. Extracted DNA using spin-column protocol, viewed through gel electrophoresis, amplified via polymerase chain reaction, sequenced, and analyzed sequences and chromatograms. Submitted work into the global Barcode Of Life Data Systems.
2011
2016
2016
2013
2012