Experiential Learning Application: Research (Summer 2011)

Summary
My research through the Washington NASA Space Grant Summer Undergraduate Research Program
(SURP) will be analyzing Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data to identify a variety of minerals on the
Martian surface. By correlating mineralogical identifications with the surrounding surface morphology, we
can get a better idea of the geological processes that were formerly present on the surface. Since I am
focusing primarily on analyzing water-related minerals in a few specific regions, my research is helping
find more evidence for the past presence of liquid water on Mars which, in turn, helps us determine if life
could have once been present.

Explain how your project fits the provided Honors Program definition of the Experiential Learning
area you selected:
My research project fits the definition of research provided by the Honors Program. I will be working with
my research advisor, Josh Bandfield, to determine my research goals. The individual research projects I
am working on in the Earth and Space Sciences Dept. Remote Sensing Lab will contribute to my
understanding of Martian mineralogy and hopefully provide further insight into aqueous compositions on
Mars.
How and why did you select this engagement?
As a Washington NASA Space Grant Scholar, I definitely understand the importance of research. I know
that knowledge in science is best gained through actual experience rather than classroom learning. In
addition, since I plan to go to graduate school where research is the central focus, gaining research
experience as an undergraduate student is extremely important. I am staying involved with research to
contribute to my understanding of the research process and my knowledge of some of the universal
research tools - including computer programming
How does this project connect to your concurrent or past coursework? How does it speak to your
broader education goals and experiences?
Astronomy has always been among my science interests. Through the years, I have been involved with
many astronomy programs (including the University of Arizona Astronomy Camps) which have helped
build my interest in space related sciences. As an undergraduate at UW, I have chosen to double major in
astronomy and physics to turn my interest in astronomy into an actual career. Because my research
relates to my major, it also connects to most of my past, current and future coursework. More specifically,
my research is very important and interesting to me because it is even within my specific area of interest
in the broad field of astronomy - planetary science.
How will your project contribute to the larger goals of the organization or those of your partners?
While my research project alone is relatively insignificant, my individual focus on aqueous compositions
will help contribute to our overall understanding of geological processes on Mars. My research goals are
directly related to the research goals of my advisor, so my research will also help contribute to his remote
sensing research.


Experiential Learning Final Reflection
My research as part of the Washington NASA Space Grant Summer Undergraduate Research
Program (SURP) has brought me closer to achieving some of my overall goals as a UW Honors student.
The instant I learned about the Honors Program experiential learning requirement, I knew that my primary
focus would be in research. After my experience with research in high school as part of the University of
Arizona Astronomy Camps, I was interested in making research a focus of my undergraduate studies.
The Washington NASA Space Grant Program allowed me to reach that goal even as an incoming
freshman.
I started working with the Remote Sensing Lab in the Earth and Space Sciences Department last
summer with the SURP program. My first summer as a college student helped to give me the background
knowledge I needed to transition to the University of Washington. I then continued working with Joshua
Bandfield on Mars research projects throughout the last academic year.
After a year of research, I reached an important point in my studies. Before this summer, I had
certainly learned a lot and gained valuable data analysis experience, but my current research has
contributed some new, interesting results to my field. As my research changed focus, I began looking into
hydrated silica deposits in Western Hellas Basin, Mars. The aqueous minerals I identified with CRISM
spectral data provide evidence for a larger scale water-related process on the surface of Mars. We are
still analyzing the last pieces of data, but with this project, we have gained a much clearer idea of the
extent of aqueous mineralogy around Hellas Basin.
Although this project is not yet completely finished, we are confident that this study of Martian
mineralogy will provide significant results to our scientific community. Hopefully, the results from my work
will even be included in an upcoming publication. Thanks to this success, I have certainly accomplished
some of the goals I set forth at the beginning of my research project and at the beginning of my time as a
UW Honors student. By continuing to work on this project, I have (almost) reached my goal of publication.
This experiential learning project has helped move me closer to finding my ultimate research
focus. Since I plan to study astronomy in graduate school, this work has certainly helped prepare me for
the future. My studies of Mars have confirmed that I am interested in studying planetary astronomy as an
undergraduate and graduate student. I am really looking forward to continuing my current research
project on hydrated silica on Mars and moving onto other research topics in planetary astronomy.
I am also including the poster I made as part of SURP for the annual Space Grant Reception in
this reflection. My poster summarizes this research project in greater detail.

Supervisor Feedback
Nancy has made excellent progress with her research project. She has learned how to process and
interpret an extremely complicated dataset and has contributed to data processing techniques and code
that has been of use to the entire research group. The research itself has led to a better understanding of
martian surface compositions and Nancy has done a fantastic job.