Eleanor Moreland
Hi, I’m Ellie!
I am a Ph.D. candidate at Rice University studying planetary mineralogy, geochemistry, and surface processes.
For my main project, I work with Dr. Kirsten Siebach to investigate planetary mineralogy and surface processes. With the help of amazing colleagues, we have developed the MIST (Mineral Identification by Stoichiometry) algorithm to automate mineral identification from geochemical datasets.
As a student collaborator on the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) instrument, I look for minerals in Mars rocks to better understand the history of water-rock interactions on the red planet. I also commonly contribute to the Mars 2020 Rover blog – check out my Science Communication page!
We apply MIST to data from PIXL to expand this understanding of habitable conditions in Jezero over time. Mineralogy presented in our new paper records temporally distinct episodes of habitable conditions in Jezero crater.
I also collaborate with Dr. Sylvia Dee at Rice and Dr. Michael Mischna at NASA JPL to bring together planetary sedimentology and climate modeling. We have adapted a model to simulate ancient lakes on Mars to better understand the climatic drivers and geologic constraints of lakes on early Mars, specifically in Gale crater. We find that thin covers of seasonal ice could be a mechanism for persistence of water bodies on early Mars!
I discovered my interest in planetary science and geology during my undergraduate career at Washington University in St. Louis. I graduated from WashU in 2021 with a B.A. in Geology where I played on the Women’s Soccer team. I also participated in research under the advisement of Professor Raymond Arvidson in the Remote Sending Laboratory, completing an undergraduate honors thesis focused on the mineralogy of sand deposits on Mars via orbital spectroscopy.
Outside of school and work, I love being a part of my Houston community through science outreach, volunteering, and playing soccer!
Eleanor Moreland 