My Research Projects
My research interests span between the fields of meteoritics, cosmochemistry, geochemistry, petrology, mineralogy and volcanology. I am interested in using in-situ analytical methods to solve problems in Planetary and Earth Sciences, with a particular focus on novel ways of integrating computational methods and data analysis.
Contact me to collaborate!
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Martian Meteorites - Nakhlites
Nakhlites are unique and rare Martian meteorites. They represent evidence of volcanism on Mars from the Amazonian period, around 1.3 billion years ago. My PhD project is a multidisciplinary study of the petrology and geochemistry of Nakhlites to better constrain and understand the past volcanic history of Mars.
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Iron Meteorite Classification
Iron meteorites are remnants of the cores of planetesimals and serve as crucial records of the early solar system's evolution. To date, iron meteorites have been manually classified using two-dimensional graphs. Using unsupervised machine learning, I have built a model to investigate the classification of iron meteorites in multidimensional space. This may help reduce bias within iron meteorite classification, and increase the reproducibility and transparency of iron meteorite classification. This can help validate current models, reclassify ungrouped meteorites and to classify new iron meteorites.
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Carbonaceous Chondrite Organic Matter
Organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites is a subject of extensive study due to its role in the evolution of the solar system and its relevance to the origin of life on Earth. Micro-Raman spectroscopy is an in situ, non-destructive technique that is critical to characterise the structure of organic matter in meteorites and the asteroidal samples. I have developped a software that will address a critical need in meteorite research by allowing a transparent, consistent, and customizable tool for processing large Raman spectral datasets of extraterrestrial organic matter at speeds of 500+ spectra/hour. This will enable larger-scale studies of carbonaceous chondrite organic peaks and the standardization of processing techniques between different studies for comparison.
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Lamproite Magmatism in Central Italy
My BSc research project was an international collaboration with the University of Chieti-Pescara in Italy. It focuses on the volcanological, petrological, and geochemical history of the Torre Alfina ultrapotassic volcano in central Italy. This enigmatic volcano is classed as a lamproite and is startlingly unusual. Better understanding its formation will help better understand the origin of volcanism in central Italy.
