Dr. Melissa Rice – Associate Professor
Kristiana Lapo – Laboratory Assistant
Kristiana completed their MS in Geology in 2021 and has been with the Mars Lab since the Spring of 2019. They specialize in spectroscopy and goniometry but get to dabble in database management, CAD and 3D printing, and public outreach and science communication as well. Kristiana is also on the Perseverance rover Mastcam-Z team and specializes in multispectral analyses. In addition to this lab-heavy repertoire, Kristiana has a background in field and remote mapping, and glacial and volcanic geomorphology and enjoys taking their lab mates out into the field when the opportunity arises. In their spare time, Kristiana is learning Python and rotates through a variety of hobbies from gaming to yoga to reading to painting.
Alivia Eng – Graduate Student
Alivia is a graduate student using laboratory reflectance spectroscopy and multispectral images from Curiosity’s Mastcam to investigate the environmental change recorded in the strata of Gale Crater. She first joined the MarsLab in Fall of 2019 during her undergraduate degree and graduated with her B.S. in Geology and a minor in Astronomy in 2021. Her areas of interest include mineralogy, surface processes, analogs for planetary science, and mission-based science. When not marveling over Martian geology, Alivia enjoys sketching and painting, doting on her animal friends, and watching sci-fi.
Louise Duflot – Postgraduate Research Assistant
Louise received her B.S in Geology from Western Washington University where she now works as a research aide for Dr. Melissa Rice, exploring different aspects of spectrogoniometry relevant to understanding Martian surface processes. She is also a collaborator on the Mastcam-Z team for the Mars 2020 mission, working in Mission Operations as a Science Payload Data Lead and Science Payload Uplink Lead.
Acacia Arielle Evans – Postgraduate Research Assistant
Acacia, “ah-KAY-sha”, is a Western Alumni ’22 with a Bachelor of Science in Geophysics. She has been a part of the Mars Lab since summer of 2020. She has worked with spacecraft imaging analysis, which entails filing past data as well as extracting new data from multispectral images taken from Curiosity’s Mastcam instrument. More recently, Acacia has created her own research project and thesis; she has been mapping all the multispectral rock and soil classifications into a map in Gale Crater along Curiosity’s traverse.
Summer of ’22 Acacia will be working on the Mastcam-Z team with NASA and will be helping with Rover Operations. She hopes to continue with Mars research in the coming years. Next steps for Acacia are to take nine months off from school, complete a coding boot camp, and then head off to graduate school.
In her free time, Acacia is the lead singer in a local Bellingham classic rock band, The Earth Tones. She also loves to paint, hike, and backpack.
Max Gabbert – Postgraduate Research Assistant
Max is a recent Western graduate with a B.S. in Geology. Since joining the Mars Lab at the start of 2022, Max has assisted several team members in sample preparation, data collection, and more while learning analytical techniques and the use of new equipment. He is planning to pursue further education to start a career in planetary science with a focus on Mars research. Max’s interests include outdoor recreation, reading science fiction, and dreaming about visiting other worlds.
Lee Adair – Undergraduate Student
Lee is an undergraduate at Western Washington University studying Geology and English. Their current work in the Mars Lab uses Curiosity’s Mastcam data to collect spectra from Martian surfaces. They are interested in the geomorphology of glaciers and volcanic environments and hope to use their understanding to make science more accessible in their field. In their spare time, Lee enjoys collaging old National Geographic magazines, writing speculative fiction, and scuba diving.
Elliot McIntyre – Undergraduate Student
Elliot McIntyre is a senior undergraduate, pursuing his B.S in geology. He joined the Mars Lab during the Spring of 2022, specializing in programing and GIS. He works on programmatically updating Martian maps with incoming multispectral data from the Curiosity rover, for all of you to enjoy and behold.
Elliot enjoys his time picking flowers, reading strange books, and painting. He plans to pursue his love of geology in the GIS field and continue his art career post-graduation in Summer 2022.
Former Students
Sabrina Curtis – M.S. Geology 2022, now employed as a Data Analyst at Million Concepts, LLC
Jess Mollerup – B.S. Physics 2020, now pursuing a M.S. at WWU (on leave)
Sam Condon – B.S. Engineering 2021, now a SPHEREx Lab Assistant at Caltech
Cory Hughes – M.S. Geology 2020, now pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas
Tina Seeger – M.S. Geology 2020, now pursuing at Ph.D. at Caltech
Kathleen Hoza – M.S. Geology 2019, now at First Mode
Katelyn Frizzell – B.S. Geophysics 2019, now pursuing at Ph.D. at Rutgers University
Mason Starr – B.S. Physics 2019, now at Malin Space Science Systems
Darian Dixon – M.S. Geology 2018, now at Malin Space Science Systems
Natalie Moore – B.S. Geophysics 2018, now at Malin Space Science Systems
Amanda Rudolph – B.S. Geology 2018, now pursuing a Ph.D. at Purdue University
Adam Hudak – B.S. Geology 2018
Katherine Winchell – B.S. Geology 2017, now at Malin Space Science Systems
Jack Boyd – B.S. Geophysics 2017