My current research investigates the depositional and deformational history of Gale Crater, home to the Mars Curiosity Rover. By integrating analysis of the sedimentary, hydrology, burial, and deformation processes affecting the crater fill, I am constructing a big-picture model of the crater as a sedimentary basin.

Other aspects of my previous and ongoing research touch upon Europa fractures, morphology and depositional styles of alluvial fans on Earth and Mars, structural reconstruction of deformed sedimentary basins, and more.

As a Lecturer at MTSU, I teach Physcial Geography and Intro to Earth Science. I have been gradually updating the course content to fully integrate digital learning tools into online courses and introduce communication skills into learning goals and assessments.

In addition to developing new course material and designing lab assignments for multiple undergraduate courses, I have also been a lab instructor and guest lecturer for a range of undergraduate and graduate geology and planetary science courses.

As part of an effort to update lab materials for introductory courses, I developed and implemented a study on improvements in student learning when using an augmented reality sandbox in a Geology 101 topographic map lab, as compared to usage of traditional 2D maps. The resulting manuscript has been published in the Journal of Geoscience Education.

I got involved with the Curiosity Rover Science Team as a postdoc at Caltech and have remained a part of the team through PSI. I am currently the SedStrat coordinator and a Co-Lead for the boxwork region Science Campaign. My ongoing research is based in Gale Crater and Curiosity data.

I was also a grad student collaborator with the Opportunity Rover Science Team, primarily in the role of SOWG Documentarian, from 2017 through the end of mission operations.

In 2021 I participated in JPL’s Planetary Science Summer School, designing and proposing the Astrobiology eXploration at Enceladus (AXE) mission.