Kim is a senior at George Mason University in Virginia and will graduate this year with a BS in Geology. She holds a BA in psychology as well as an AS in Mathematics. Kim is currently a sedimentary geology lab instructor at GMU and has taught in the women’s studies department at Albany State University in Albany, NY. more »

Patrick studied physics and astronomy as an undergraduate at George Mason University. He first came to the Geophysical Laboratory in 2003 as a summer intern with Robert Hazen to study emergent systems using the artificial life platform Avida. Upon graduating in 2005 Patrick returned to GL to continue researching the functional properties of complex systems, including the characterization of discrete classes of solutions to computational problems. more »

Anton's undergraduate work was dedicated to investigation of reductive elimination of η3-allylpalladium complexes methoxypentadiene based by NMR-spectrometry and chromatomass-spectrometry.Combination of complexes was synthesized, characterizedby elemental, 1HNMR and IR spectrometry. Then series of experimentsin different conditions were carried out. more »

Dominik Kurzydlowski from Warsaw University, joins GL as a Research Student through 13 May 2008. He will be collaborating with Viktor Struzhkin to continue experiments on fluoride compounds which may help to discover a new family of high-Tc superconductors.

Joseph Lai obtained his B.S degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida in 2002, and then earned his M.S degree in material science and engineering from the University of Florida in 2004. He joined Carnegie Institution of Washington as a Laboratory Scientist in 2005. He is currently working in the CVD diamond lab with Dr. Russell Hemley and Dr. Chih-Shiue Yan .

Verena Starke is a molecular biologist and microbial ecologist specializing in astrobiotechnology with regard to molecular techniques for detecting life. She developed a strong background in molecular biology during her masters research in 2004 at the Philipps-University Marburg (Germany), where she used molecular techniques to evaluate genetic and microbiological approaches. To further her knowledge and applied skills in astrobiology she participated in internships at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne and at NASA Johnson Space Center/Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas during her Masters. At the DLR she tackled the question of whether and to what extent natural soil or rock material may protect bacterial spores against the harsh environment of space (especially solar UV radiation). more »

Will Wurzel attended Lafayette College where he studied Biology and Environmental Science. After graduating in 2006 he started a six-month internship with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service at the Central New England Fishery Resources Office in Nashua, NH. During his internship he worked on projects to conserve Atlantic Salmon and American Shad throughout the Merrimack River Watershed. After completing his internship he began working on a project at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center that utilized stable isotopes (N, O) to track nitrates in farm runoff through the Choptank River. more »

Hong Yang came to Carnegie Institution from Peking University(China) where she studied Metamorphic Geology as a graduate student in a combined Master-Doctor program. Her research interests are UHP petrology and mineralogy.  more »