STEM Faculty

Professional biography

2019 - Professor of Planetary Science and Exploration, School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

2014 - 2019 Reader in Planetary Science and Exploration, Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

2012 - 2015 Chair, Geochemistry Group of the Mineralogical and Geological Societies, UK

2011 - 2014 Chair, ESA Topical Team for Exploitation of Planetary Materials (TT-ELPM)

2010 - 2014 Lecturer, Planetary and Space Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

2009 - Chair, UK-node for the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), formerly the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI).

2005 - 2010 Academic Fellow at the Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research, Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

2004 - Researcher & Scientific Associate at the Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, London, UK.

2001-2004 - Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Planetary Geosciences Institute, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.

Research interests

My research focusses on understanding the formation/evolution of planetary bodies in the Solar System through analysis of samples from the Earth, Moon, Mars and asteroids. My recent research on Apollo samples on the topic of ‘Water in the Moon’ has seen training and mentoring of PhD students and postdocs, some of whom have already secured academic positions at prestigious universities around the world. I am also a member of multiple international consortia on research topics focussing on the 'Origin and evolution of volatiles in the inner Solar System'.

Many of the analytical techniques and methods that underpin my current research can be applied directly to other areas of scientific research (e.g., isotopic fingerprinting of aerosol sources, biogeochemical cycling of heavy metals etc.) and, therefore, I am open to new ideas and collaborations to develop research proposals that may be attractive to relevant funding agencies.

I have a current portfolio of 142 peer-reviewed journal articles (total citations: >8300; h-index: 54; i-10 index: 134). See Publications for further details.

Research projects in which I am the principal investigator/lead supervisor:

13.      Topic: History and Evolution of Volatiles in the Moon

Funded person: Dr Alice Stephant (PDRA)

Funding source (duration): STFC Consolidated Grant (2017-2020)

12.      Topic: Secular evolution of water and other volatiles in the lunar interior

Funded person: Dr Jessica Barnes (PDRA)

Funding source (duration): STFC Consolidated Grant (2014-2017)

11.      Topic: Abundance and origin of lunar water

Funded person: Dr Katharine Robinson (PDRA)

Funding source (duration): Open University (2015-2017)

10.      Topic: Secular evolution of water in the lunar mantle

Funded person: Dr Romain Tartèse (PDRA)

Funding source (duration): STFC standard grant (2011-2014)

9.      Topic: The abundance and isotopic composition of water in HED meteorites and implications for the volatile inventory of the Earth-Moon system

Funded person: Mr Thomas Barrett

Funding source (duration): STFC Doctoral Training Grant (2013-2016)

8.      Topic: Using lunar apatites to assess the volatile inventory of the lunar interior

Funded person: Ms Nicola Potts

Funding source (duration): STFC Doctoral Training Grant (2012-2015)

7.      Topic: Investigating the Distribution and Source(s) of Lunar Volatiles

Funded person: Mr James Mortimer

Funding source (duration): STFC Doctoral Training Grant/Open University Charter (2012-2015)

6.      Topic: Water on the Moon: A Geochemical Approach

Funded person: Ms Jessica J. Barnes

Funding source (duration): STFC Doctoral Training Grant (2011-2014)

Research projects in which I am involved as a co-investigator/co-supervisor:

5.      Topic: Crustal Variations on the Planet Mercury

Funded person: Ms Emma Fegan

Funding source (duration): STFC Doctoral Training Grant (2013-2016)

4.      Topic: The Geology of Mercury at High Spatial Resolution

Funded person: Ms Rebecca Thomas

Funding source (duration): STFC Doctoral Training Grant (2012-2015)

3.      Topic: Magmatic Volatiles: Mars, Vesta and the Angrite Parent Body (APB)

Funded person: Mr Feargus Abernethy

Funding source (duration): STFC Doctoral Training Grant (2010-2013)

2.      Topic: Novel Instrumentation for Planetary Rovers

Funded person: Ms Phillipa H. Smith

Funding source (duration): STFC Doctoral Training Grant (2010-2013)

1.  Topic: Igneous activity in the early Solar System

Funded person: Ms Kathryn H. McDermott

Funding source (duration): STFC Doctoral Training Grant (2010-2013)

Teaching interests

Some of my current/past involvements with teaching Open University courses/modules are:

- Module team member of S818 (Space Masters)

- Module team member of S104 (Exploring Science)

- Module team member of S283 (Planetary Science and the Search for Life)

- Module team member of S250 (Science in Context)

- Module team member of S339 (Understanding the continents)

- Production team member of S288 (Water quality topic)

- Demonstrator/Senior Tutor on OU residential schools (SXR 103, S288, SXR260)

External collaborations

I chair the UK node of the NASA Solar System Exploration Virtual Research Institute (SSERVI). We currently have over 100 members from 15 UK Higher Education Institutions. Below is a list of latest publications from our node members on the topics of lunar science and exploration:

1. Černok, Ana; White, Lee Francis; Darling, James; Dunlop, Joseph and Anand, Mahesh (2019). Shock‐induced microtextures in lunar apatite and merrillite. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 54(6) pp. 1262–1282.
2. Curran N. M., K. H. Joy, J.F. Snape, J. F. Pernet-Fisher, J. D. Gilmour, A. A. Nemchin, M. J. Whitehouse, and R. Burgess. (2019) The Early Geological History of the Moon Inferred from Ancient Lunar Meteorite Miller Range 13317. Meteoritics and Planetary Science. DOI: 10.1111/maps.13295
3. Deutsch, A.N., Neumann, G.A., Head, J.W. and Wilson, L. (2019) GRAIL-identified gravity anomalies in Oceanus Procellarum: insight into subsurface impact and magmatic structures on the Moon. Icarus, 331, 192-208, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.027
4. Pernet-Fisher J. F., E. Deloule, Joy K. H. (2019) Evidence of chemical heterogeneity within lunar anorthosite parental magmas. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta. doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2019.03.033 
5. Qiao, L., Head, J.W., Ling, Z., Wilson, L., Xiao, L., Dufek, J.D. and Yan, J. (2019) Geological characterization of the Ina shield volcano summit pit crater on the Moon: evidence for extrusion of waning-stage lava lake magmatic foams and anomalously young crater retention ages. Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets, 124, 1100-1140, doi:10.1029/2018JE005841
6. Sefton-Nash, E., Williams, J-P., Greenhagen, B. T., Warren, T. J., Bandfield, J. L., Aye, K-M., Leader, F., Siegler, M. A., Hayne, P. O., Bowles, N., Paige, D. A. (2019) Evidence for ultra-cold traps and surface water ice in the lunar south polar crater Amundsen, Icarus (2019) in press.
7. Tartèse, Romain; Anand, Mahesh and Franchi, Ian (2019). H and Cl isotope characteristics of indigenous and late hydrothermal fluids on the differentiated asteroidal parent body of Grave Nunataks 06128. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2019.01.024
8. Warren, T. J., Bowles, N. E., K. Donaldson Hanna, J. L. Bandfield (2019), Modeling the Angular Dependence of Emissivity of Randomly Rough Surfaces. JGR Planets, 124 (2019) 585-601, DOI: 10.1029/2018JE005840.
9. Wilson, L., Head, J.W. and Zhang, F. (2019) A theoretical model for the formation of ring moat dome structures: products of second boiling in the distal parts of lunar basaltic lava flows. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 374, 160-180, doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2019.02.018

To download a full list of publications (2009-2019), click here.