Personal profile

Overview

My full CV and publication list is available here and my Orcid research record is orcid.org/0000-0003-4992-8750

Education and Research Experience

May 2012-Present:  Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, UK
  • 2021- present: Professor of Lunar and Planetary Science
  • 2015-2024: Royal Society University Research Fellow
  • 2012-2015: Leverhulme Trust Early-Career Postdoctoral Fellow

Nov. 2011 – Jan. 2012: Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) 
  • Field team member searching for meteorites in the Miller Range, Antarctica.

Jan. 2010 – Nov. 2011: Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute (USRA) and NASA’s Johnson Space Center, USA
  • Postdoctoral Fellow funded by the NASA Lunar Science Institute: Examining the lunar regolith to unravel the bombardment history of the Moon. Analytical research conducted at NASA, JSC.

April 2007- Dec. 2009: School of Earth Sciences, Birkbeck College London, UK
  • Postdoctoral Research Assistant funded by the Leverhulme Trust: Using mineralogical and geochemical measurements of lunar samples to interpret chemical data obtained from orbital remote-sensing missions to the Moon. Analytical research conducted at the Natural History Museum, London, UK.

Oct. 2006 - March 2007: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory contract to Birkbeck College London, UK
  • Research Assistant: Scientific analysis of D-CIXS instrument lunar X-ray fluorescence data

Oct. 2003 -July 2007: Dept. of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK.
  • Ph.D. in Planetary Science: Topics in Lunar Evolution using Sample Analysis and Remotely Sensed Information. Analytical research conducted at the Natural History Museum, London, UK.

Oct. 2000 - Aug. 2003: Dept. of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, UK.
  • BSc. (Hons.) Geology: First Class Degree.
  • Prizes for ‘Best Geological Fieldwork’ (2002), ‘Best Independent Geological Mapping Project’ (2003).

Memberships of committees and professional bodies

  • Member of the Isotope Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry Group, University of Manchester, UK
  • International Member of the Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, LPI/Johnson Space Center NASA Lunar Science Institute Team
  • Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, UK
  • Member of the Meteoritical Society

Research interests

My full CV and publication list is available here

Research Statement and Interests
My scientific objective is to investigate the endogenic and exogenic geological history of the Moon using geochemical techniques. I conduct analytical investigations of lunar samples, and apply my understanding of lunar geological processes to help interpret geochemical remote sensing data from the Moon’s surface.

Cosmochemistry Research
Petrological and geochemical investigations of extra-terrestrial samples:
• I am an Apollo sample Principal Investigator (PI) and a NASA Meteorite Working Group PI (Antarctic meteorites), and have also studied a range of hot desert lunar meteorites.  
• I most recently have been working on Apollo 16 regolith breccias and impact melts, Apollo 12 low-Ti mare basalts and a range of lunar meteorite samples (basalts, feldspathic impact melt, regolith breccias).
• I have experience using analytical instrumentation including EDS Scanning Electron Microscopes, WDS electron microprobes (Cameca SX 50 and SX 100) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and noble gass mass spectrometers (ARGUS VI, MS1).
• I have collaborated with other researchers using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and Transmission Electron Microscope techniques

Space Mission and Science Team Involvement     
I am in the front line of current lunar and planetary science research:
• Co-Investigator - Demonstration of a Compact Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (D-CIXS), which was a payload on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) SMART-1 mission to the Moon.
• Co-Investigator - Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS), with an involvement in the instrument calibration, development of laboratory testing and lunar science data processing and interpretation.
• Co-Investigator - Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (MIXS) instrument that will fly aboard ESA's BepiColumbo mission to Mercury.
• Science team member of PROSPECT experiment (ESA)

• International Science Team member Artemis 3 Geology Team and DIMPLE PRISM experiment
• Member of the UK Fireball Alliance committee

My group

Opportunities

See the DEES PGR webpage for information about current PhD projects and how to apply

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 14 - Life Below Water
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Areas of expertise

  • QE Geology
  • Moon
  • Planetary
  • Meteorites

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Manchester Environmental Research Institute

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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