Stony Brook University Vibrational Spectroscopy Laboratory

Group Members

Timothy Glotch, Professor of Geosciences; Principal Investigator RISE2 SSERVI node;

My research interests are focused on using infrared remote sensing and laboratory spectroscopy to better understand the composition of the crusts of Mars, the Moon, and small bodies. My research group and I primarily use data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner, Mars Global Surveyor TES, Mars Odyssey THEMIS, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CRISM, and OSIRIS-REx OTES instruments. We study extraterrestrial samples and their analogs using two Nicolet 6700 FTIR spectrometers (one equipped with a simulated lunar/asteroid environment chamber), a Nicolet iN10MX micro-FTIR imaging spectrometer, an ASD FieldSpec 3 Max UV-VIS-NIR spectrometer, a WITec alpha300R confocal Raman imaging spectrometer, and a Neaspec neaSNOM nano-IR instrument operated in the Vibrational Spectrosocpy Laboratory. Google Scholar Profile


Indhu Varatharajan, Postdoctoral Researcher

Research Interests: Planetary spectroscopy and surface mineralogy, integrated spectroscopy methods (laboratory-orbital-in situ-telescope), machine learning, planetary volatiles and resources, field analogue studies, volcanism, geology and surface processes, space weathering of airless bodies.





Chris Kremer, Postdoctoral Researcher

Research Interests: Intermediate infrared (IMIR) spectroscopy, remote sensing, mineralogy, lunar geology, space weathering.








Marina Gemma, Postdoctoral Researcher

Research Interests: Meteoritics, planetary and asteroid spectroscopy, protoplanetary disk evolution, mineralogy, geochemistry, coordinated analyses, data visualization, science communication.







Henal Bhatt, Postdoctoral Researcher

Research Interests: Understanding the geological evolution of planetary landforms that includes volcanoes, mare, and impact craters of the Moon. Compositional mapping, morphological mapping, tectonic and structural study of the lunar surface using remote sensing techniques from hyperspectral and multispectral VNIR data, laser altimetry, and digital elevation models and panchromatic data from NASA’s and ISRO’s contemporary lunar missions, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Chandrayaan-1 missions.


Laura Breitenfeld, Ph.D. Student

Research Interests: Planetary geology, mineralogy, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and machine learning. Google Scholar Profile









Nandita Kumari, Ph.D. Student

Research Interests: Lunar space weathering; crater formation and modification; infrared spectroscopy and remote sensing.









Connor Tinker, Ph.D. Student

Research Interests: Planetary surface processes, spectroscopy, spacecraft mission and instrument development.









Leonard Flores, Ph.D. Student

Research Interests:









Olive Koren, Ph.D. Student

Research Interests:









Eashan Das, Ph.D. Student

Research Interests:









Anthony Munoz, Undergraduate Research Assistant











Group Alumni

Postdocs

Yang (Steve) Liu (Staff Scientist at China's National Space Science Center)

Mehmet Yesiltas (Associate Professor at Kirklareli University, Turkey)

Sarah Nicholas (Beamline Scientist at the XFM beamline at NSLS II, Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Graduate Students

Allison Zastrow (Ph.D., 2022; Postdoc at Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Jordan Young (Ph.D., 2021; Machine Learning Engineer at Databook)

Cheng Ye (Ph.D., 2020; Postdoc at Northern Arizona University)

Carey Legett (Ph.D., 2019; Staff Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Melinda Rucks (Ph.D., 2019; Postdoc at Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Melissa Sims (Ph.D., 2018; Postdoc at Johns Hopkins University)

Katherine Shirley (Ph.D., 2018; Postdoc at University of Oxford, UK)

Gen Ito (Ph.D., 2018; Postdoc at CNRS CRPG, France)

Steven Jaret (Ph.D., 2017; Assistant Professor at Kingsborough Community College)

Lonia Friedlander (Ph.D., 2015; Research Associate and Director of X-Ray Diffraction Laboratory, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)

Jessy Arnold (Ph.D., 2014; Orbital Debris Measurement Scientist, Jacobs LLC)

Eli Sklute (Ph.D., 2014; Research Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute)

Congcong Che (Ph.D., 2012)

Heidi Jensen (M.S., 2011; Support Scientist, Science Mission Directorate, NASA)

Undergraduate Students

Kim Vu (MAT student, American Museum of Natural History), Grace Kim (Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech); Alexander Kling (Ph.D. student at Purdue University), Dylan McDougall (M.S. student at Brigham Young University), Kyle Castillo (Officer, United States Navy), Saba Parvez (Data Analytics, Asst. Manager at JDS Therapeutics LLC), Noel Scudder (Ph.D. student at Purdue University), Thomas Condus (Ph.D. student at Washington University in St. Louis), Ben McKeeby (Ph.D. student at University of Pittsburgh), Alexis Martone (Model Review Analyst at S&P Global Platts), Meredith Kraner (Associate Scientist, AIR Worldwide), Christie Cino (Earth Science teacher, Bethpage High School), Han Byul Woo, Rachel Ovrutsky, Jerome Varriale (Geologist at Diamondback Energy), Chantilly Berrios (Calculus teacher, NYC DOE), Steven Elardo (Assistant Professor at University of Florida), Fred Ng (Senior GIS Analyst, NYC. Dept. of IT & Telecom.), Kei Shimizu (Postdoc at University of Wisconsin, Madison)