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Alaina Brinley
Kalamazoo College, MI
Mentor: Jennifer Blank
Project: Researched microbial diversity in ophiolite-hosted cold springs as a Mars analog. Collected microbe-bearing water samples in Del Puerto Canyon, CA. Performed DNA extraction, PCR, DGGE, and sequencing. Analyzed rock and water samples for mineral and chemical composition.
Zoe Buck
Princeton University, NJ
Mentor: Frank Drake
Project: Worked to improve the Optical SETI program at Lick Observatory, and did extra observing for the search for extrasolar Planets
Jenny Carton
Villanova University, PA
Mentor: Doug Caldwell
Project: Used data taken at the South Pole to search for extrasolar planets
Kelsey Clubb
University of Iowa
Mentor: Gerry Harp
Project: Worked with Dr. Gerry Harp on a project to stream real-time data from the Allen Telescope Array to the Internet, making it available for museum exhibits, classrooms, and to the public at large
Yufei Liu
Princeton University, NJ
Mentor: Alessandra Ricca
Project: Worked with Dr. Alessandra Ricca using a theoretical chemistry program to model the formation of aromatic rings with nitrogen on Titan. Using the same program, they investigated the role of nanodiamonds in the interstellar medium
Jason Merritt
Villanova University, PA
Mentor: Peter Jenniskens
Project: Studied meteor observing and spectroscopy, and implemented an observing system using a digital camera to image meteors
Donald Pau
University of California, Berkeley
Mentor: Richard Quinn
Project: Worked with Dr. Richard Quinn in applying the Gas Exchange Experiment (one of the biology experiments sent to Mars on the Viking landers in 1976) to martian soil analogs from the Atacama Desert in Chile
Michael Papadopoulos
University of California, Davis
Mentor: Rocco Mancinelli
Project: Worked in the laboratory with Dr. Mancinelli designing experiments to help catalog the response of DNA to UV irradiation
Alex Parker
University of Washington
Mentor: Devon Burr
Project: Studied a suite of martian fluvial geomorphologic features; primarily, reconstructing the history of Grjotá Vallis, a young giant outburst flood channel that covers ~50,000 sq. km. near Mars' equator
Lindsay Rutter
Penn State University
Mentor: Andy Mattioda
Project: Worked in the Astrochemistry Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center to perform structural comparisons of polycyclic aromatic nitrogen heterocycles (PANHs) in the Near Infrared region. PANHs are of astrobiological interest because they are ubiquitous in the interstallar environment, have been identified in meteoritic extracts, and constitute our nucleobases
Circe Verba
Oregon State University
Mentor: Cynthia Phillips
Project: Observed dark slope streaks that form on crater rims, knobs, and volcanic sides on Mars with Dr. Cynthia Phillips. Studied two possible explanations for these slope streaks: dry and wet models, with a particular interest in aqueous processes
Jaime Warrington
Lyon College, AR
Mentor: Rocco Mancinelli
Project: Worked in the laboratory of Dr. Rocco Mancinelli to study UV and dessication survival of halophile microbes
