I am working with Professor Sarah Slotznick on research investigating the magnetic properties of cobalt sulfide minerals, important ore for a transition to renewable energy.
Using high-sensitivity magnetic instruments we have found previously unreported weak ferromagnetism in multiple cobalt sulfides. We are continuing with careful examination of our natural and synthesized specimens to precisely determine their composition and structure, and rule out iron contamination.
I have mentored Dartmouth students on this project for laboratory work and data analysis, and am also mentoring two students' senior theses this year. One project investigates the rock magnetism of hematite, while another uses magnetic susceptibility to track environmental contamination.
Testing the Fidelity of Paleopole Determinations From Multidirectionally Magnetized Lunar Crustal Anomaly Source Bodies. With Sonia Tikoo, Rachel Maxwell, and Ian Garrick-Bethell.
A modeling project at Stanford, we investigated whether a dipolar lunar magnetic field could produce inversion paleopoles at the equator. The short answer: yes! The scatter in lunar paleopoles is therefore not evidence against a dipolar lunar dynamo field.
Our manuscript was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets in 2025.
Do Young Lunar Impact Glasses Record Transient Magnetic Fields? With Sonia Tikoo and Benjamin Weiss.
A laboratory project at Stanford, we investigated several young lunar impact melt samples and found that they had not exposed to significant magnetic fields prior to collection by Apollo astronauts.
I mentored two Stanford undergraduates in the laboratory on work related to this project.
Our manuscript is in preparation.
Rock Magnetic Characterization of Schreibersite. With Sonia Tikoo and Mike Krawczynski.
A laboratory project at Stanford and the University of Minnesota Institute for Rock Magnetism, we investigatied unstudied characteristic rockmagnetic properties of the rare extraterrestrial mineral schreibersite, both natural meteoritic samples and synthetic samples prepared at Washington University in St. Louis. We then used these parameters for micromagnetic modeling of schreibersite to understand how their natural habits affect their paleomagnetic recording properties.
I mentored one Stanford undergraduate and one community college summer intern in the laboratory on work related to this project.
Our manuscript is in preparation.
Oxygen Fugacity in the Lunar Magma Ocean. With Laura Schaefer.
An additional modeling project at Stanford, we allowed oxygen fugacity to freely vary in a 1 dimensional thermochemical model of lunar magma ocean equilibrium and fractional crystallization. We found that this method successfully reproduced trace element patterns observed in lunar samples.