Record Number of Space and Planetary Science Students Represented at Conference

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Students from the space and planetary science program at the 46th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

A record number of University of Arkansas graduate students presented research at the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held last month in The Woodlands, Texas.

A total of 10 graduate students in the space and planetary sciences program presented at the conference. Additionally, four undergraduate students affiliated with the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences' Research Experience for Undergraduates program gave presentations.

"The students all did a great job," said John Dixon, graduate coordinator of the space and planetary science program. "They all brought great credit to the University of Arkansas."

Nearly 1,800 space and planetary specialists from around the globe attended the 46th annual conference. Only 20 percent of abstracts submitted by attendees are selected by the conference's organizing committee for oral presentation, and 50 percent of the abstracts put forth by U of A students were selected.

"This was an amazing effort and huge credit to the caliber of our students and their research," Dixon said.

The oral presenters and their research were:

• Ben Brophy,* "Effect of Sediment Concentration on Titan Fluid Dynamics"
• Elizabeth Eddings,* "Experimental Simulations of Recurring Slope Lineae [On Mars]"
• Amira El-Sensousy, "Modeling Heat and Salt Transfer at Europa's Ice-Ocean Interface"
• Julia Heydenreich, "Recurring Slope Lineae Formation on Changing Slopes [On Mars]"
• Erika Kohler, "Radar - Reflective Minerals Investigated under Venus Near-Surface Conditions"
• Sunny Singh, "Solubility of Ethylene and Acetylene in Liquid Methane and Ethane [On Titan]"
• Navita Sinha, "Growth of Methanogens on Different Mars Regolith Analogs and Stable Carbon Isotope Fractionation during Methanogensis"
• Matthew Sylvest, "Laboratory Observations of Mass Wasting Triggered by Sublimation of Condensed CO2 Frost under Martian Conditions"

The poster presenters and their research were:

• Miguel Conner,* "Regolith-Atmosphere Water Vapor Transfer on Mars: Comparison between Phoenix and MSL Data"
• Holly Farris, "Experimental Investigation of Adsorption Kinetics in Monthmorillonite: Implications for Diurnal Variations in Martian Atmospheric Water"
• Michael Fusco, "Exoplanet Atmosphere Spectral Mixing and Unmixing Models: Toward Measurement of Atmospheric Constituents"
• Jessica Lloyd,* "Permanent Magnet-Active Attitude Control of a Cubesat for Space Instruments
• Rebecca Mickol, "A Simple One-Dimensional Radiative-Convective Atmospheric Model for Use with Extrasolar Atmospheres"
• Sara Port, "Distribution of Planets in Multi-Planetary Exosolar Systems"
• Sunny Singh, "Identification of Acetylene on Titan"
• Navita Sinha, "Growth and Survivability of Methanogens at High Temperature and Pressure: Implications for Life on Mars

The Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, founded in 2000, is an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Arkansas with 18 graduate students and nearly $3 million in awarded grants.

*Indicates undergraduate students