Valerie Payré

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Iowa. I combine sedimentology and igneous petrology to understand and constrain magmatic processes on Mars and other planets. I work on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity team, and was previously a ChemCam team member.

I completed my undergraduate and master's studies in Geochemistry at Ecole Normale Supérieure Ulm and Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France. I obtained my Ph.D. at Université de Lorraine (France) with Dr. Cécile Fabre and Dr. Violaine Sautter with a dissertation entitled "Contribution of the ChemCam instrument to the understanding of the martian primitive crust and the weathering processes at the surface of Mars – Alkaline and metal trace element quantifications using LIBS (Li, Sr, Rb, Ba and Cu)".  I did  postdoctoral research in Mars magmatism with Dr. Kirsten Siebach and Dr. Rajdeep Dasgupta at Rice University, and with Dr. Mark Salvatore and Dr. Christopher Edwards at Northern Arizona University.
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​​Kiersten Hottendorf

Howdy! My name is Kiersten Hottendorf and I am a PhD student in the Planetary Exploration Group at UI. I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Earth Science from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and a Master’s of Science in Geology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. I am a big fan of music, hiking, and long conversations with my loved ones. My research is focused around planetary volcanology and comparative planetology. In the past I have conducted volcanology research on Earth in New Mexico and Idaho, but my research has spanned to the Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Venus. I specifically use physical volcanology, igneous petrology, numerical modeling, and remote sensing in order to learn more about volcanism throughout our solar system.


Protiti Roy

Hello,
My name is Protiti and I am a PhD student at the Planetary Exploration Group in the department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Iowa.
I pursued my Bachelor’s degree with an Honours in Geology from University of Calcutta. I obtained my Master’s degree in Applied Geology from IIT (ISM) Dhanbad.
I am currently studying the minerals on Mars using JMARS. I analyze CRISM data using ENVI with CAT and inspect HiRISE images. I am intrigued by how minerals can speak a lot about the igneous history followed by several sedimentary processes in the past. This helps me to infer how Mars was used to be in the past and even answer the water situation back then.
I love to spend my free time painting and sketching, reading story books and cooking!


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​Al Zukowski

Hello, my name is Al Zukowski, I’m a second year Geosciences major at the University of Iowa, where I’m currently studying igneous and metamorphic petrology and structural geology. Some of the research I am currently working on involve studying impact phases of plagioclase caused by shock metamorphism, in order to revise models used to study the mineralogy of planetary surfaces using infrared spectroscopy. Additionally, I have an ongoing project using data from the Curiosity rover to analyze and characterize a suite of float rocks in Gale crater on Mars to better understand their formation mechanism. Outside of school and research, I spend my time weightlifting and spending quality time with my friends. I’m very excited to participate in the planetary group, and I can’t wait to see what we can learn!

Former Members


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​Zach Vig (now PhD student at the University of Maryland)

My name is Zach Vig and I currently work as a full-time research assistant in the Planetary Exploration Lab. I graduated from the University of Iowa in 2022 with B.S. degrees in Physics and Geosciences. I am interested in studying large-scale planetary systems and how this knowledge can be translated into generalized theories of comparative planetology. My current project involves better characterizing the distribution of water ice at the lunar poles by utilizing several key datasets and predictive classification models. When I am not in te lab I love to hike, mountain bike and generally exist outside.


Samantha Eberly

Undergraduate student in Geoscience B.S, University of Iowa



Jessica Mettlin

Undergraduate in Geoscience bachelor's degree, University of Iowa