Planetary Climate and Habitability Research

Danica is primarily interested in how atmospheric chemistry and climate co-evolve at Mars, other solar system worlds, and exoplanets, and she likes to think about how that evolution influenced habitability over time. She is also interested in applying photochemistry and aerosol models to explain present-day measurements at many worlds (ranging from Mars to hot Jupiters). She discovered her passion for planetary evolution while working with the MAVEN mission during her undergraduate.

Collin began his research career in biochemistry and pivoted to planetary science and education after taking inspiration from science communicators like Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson. He was a chemistry and physics teacher in Boston and Morocco before joining the Wordsworth group. As a first year student, his primary research interests are in exoplanet atmospheric modeling/observation and astrobiology. Check out his blog: etaearth.org.

After receiving my bachelor’s in astrophysics from the University of Georgia, I decided to pursue planetary science because of its fundamentally interdisciplinary nature. I am at present interested in the formation and climate evolution of Venus and aim to integrate science communication and outreach into my career as a scientist.

Charlotte is a first-year graduate student modeling Earth’s carbon cycle evolution. Having meandered from a passion for exoplanets into researching Earth’s climate history, she’s interested in what sets climate states and how planets we know of can help us think about planets we don’t. Before joining the Wordsworth group, she also studied the history of science, and hopes to incorporate an awareness of the historical and social context of planetary science into her career as a researcher.

Jake studies planetary climates using a hierarchy of models, ranging from pencil-and-paper theories to simulations that run on supercomputers. He is currently working on a theory for the tropopause in planetary atmospheres. Previously, Jake worked on a variety of radiative-convective phenomena, including the physics of carbon dioxide radiative forcing, anvil cloud formation, and the effect of global warming on lightning and severe thunderstorms.

Robin is from the Scottish Highlands near Loch Ness, home of the famous monster. Since leaving Scotland he has studied and worked in England, France and the USA. Today, his research interests include the climate evolution and habitability of Mars, Earth and Venus and the potential climates and biosignatures of exoplanets.