Meet the people who make up STEM Faculty.
As Professor of Planetary Geoscience in the School of Physical Sciences at the Open Unversity my research interests are mainly in Mars geology and geomorphology and the geology of Mercury. I hope one day to return to my PhD topic, the geology of Venus, but for now Mars and Mercury form the focus of my research.
My early career was spent trying to understand dust devils on Earth and Mars as well as wind-related landscapes and transport processes on Mars. I've also been involved in research using orbital remote sensing to study the martian cryosphere. From 2013 I started working on landing site selection for the ESA ExoMars Rover mission and joined the instrument team for PanCam, the Rover's main camera. I am now deputy PI of PanCam and much of my research in the past 10 years has been centred on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover mission in one way or another. I am currently seconded to ESA as an 'International Team Member' for 50% of my time to work on the Rosalind Franklin Mission.
At OU I lead the Planetary Environments research group - a talented and dedicated group of PhD students and researchers - and have done for more than 15 years. During that time I have supervised (or co-supervised) more than 20 students to completion and currently supervise a handful more. I have been lucky enough to have supervised or managed about ten postdocs or research fellows over the years, all of whom were appointed on competetively awarded grant income.
Supervising students and postdocs is an important and rewarding part of my role, and my aim is to make our research group as welcoming and nurturing as it possibly can be.
2021-ongoing Professor of Planetary Geoscience, School of Physical Sciences, Open University, UK.
2013 - 2021 Senior Lecturer, Open University, UK
2009 - 2013: UK Space Agency Aurora Fellow, Open University, UK.
2006 - 2015: Research Scientist (Senior Research Scientist from 2011), part-time, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, USA.
2005 - 2009: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, paret-time, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Open University, UK.
2005: Postdoctoral Researcher, Departement des Sciences de la Terre, Univ. Paris-Sud, Paris, France.
2004 - 2005: Postdoctoral Researcher, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson.
2003 - 2004: Post Doctoral Research Assistant, part-time, University of Oxford, UK.
2003 - 2004: Post Doctoral Research Associate, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UK.
2001 - 2003: Post Doctoral Research Associate, Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA.
The multiple, part-time positions I held between 2005 and 2012 reflect two parallel mid-career paths, one in the USA at the Planetary Science Institute, the other in the UK at Open University.
My research interests in planetary geomorphology and geology include:
Martian aeolian processes and landscapes, including sediment transport, large ripple-like bedforms and dust devils. A recent paper on this topic can be found here
Martian fluvial processes and landforms, including lakes and valley networks, and especially inverted fluvial systems. For examples see here or here
Glacial and periglaical Mars. A recent paper discussing melting of martian glaciers can be found here
The application of machine learning to remote sensing of planetary surfaces. A paper describing the NOAH-H deep-learing system can be found here
Ongoing studies of the ExoMars landing site in Oxia Planum, Mars. Examples of this work can be found here and here
Mercury mapping and geology. Here are some examples of maps and science studies
2023-2027 Fluvial History of Noachis Terra and Hellas Basin, Mars. UK Space Agency funded.
2021-2027 Preperations for ExoMars Rover Operations and PanCam Deputy PI support. UK Space Agency.
2020-2023 Deep Learning Analysis of Planetary Surfaces. STFC funded.
2019-2023 Martian Aeolian Processes and Landforms at the ExoMars Rover Site in Oxia Planum. UK Space Agency funded.
2018-2021 Planetary Mapping. EU Horizon 2020 funded.
2014-2021 Identification, characterisation and Scientic evaluation of ExoMars Rover landing sites. Several UK Space Agency funded grants.
2022-ongoing S841 production team: "Level 4 project module" (currently in production)
2019 SXPS288 module team meber: "Practical Science"
2015-2017 S141 module team chair: "Investigative and Mathematical Skills in Science".
2013-2015 S141 module team member: "Investigative and Mathematical Skills in Science".
2011 S288 topic specialist: I was topic specialist for both the "Remote Sensing" (GIS) and "Planetary Formation and Habitability" topics.
2012-2013 S288 production team: "Planetary Formation and Habitability". I conceived and designed the Mars Online Viewer (MOV) tool (although the hard coding work was done by Andy Sutton from LTS!), I wrote course materials for investigation 4 of the topic, and also wrote the TMAs.
Examples of recent public engagement activities include:
2023 Wycombe Astronomical society, "Mars Geology" lecture
2022 Shropshire Geological society, "Mars Geology" lecture
2022 UK Space Agency 'Mars Day' panel member
2021 Interview, BBC news and BBC news channel
2021 Geological Society of London Invited lecture “The Geology of Mars” (link)
Examples of external collaborations include:
Displaying 10 of 122 publications
