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Project Progress

The Carnegie Summer Intern Program brings about 20 college students, competitively selected, to our campus every summer for an intensive 10-week experience in original scientific research. At a symposium held at the end of the program, students report on the results of their research. Several interns have been lead authors of related articles later published in scientific journals. Titles of projects, interns with their affiliations and supervisors for projects in astrobiology in 2009 are:
1. Adsorption Studies of the Amino Acids L-Phenylalanine and L-Dopa to the Rutile Surface, Salima Bahri (Barnard College) supervised by Christopher and Caroline Jonsson
2. Minerals, Molecules and the Origin of Life, Mickey Kopstein (College of William and Mary), supervised by Jim Cleaves
3. Interactions Between Glycine Derivatives and Mineral Surfaces Implicated in the Origins of Life on Planetary Surfaces, Karina Marshall-Bowman (University of Vermont) supervised by Jim Cleaves
4. Sea Floor Volcanic Glasses as a Source of Available Phosphate for Prebiotic Reactions, Justine Hart (University of Iowa) supervised by George Cody
5. Calculating Distances and Motions of Stars in the TW Hydrae Association, Rebecca Rattray (Vanderbilt University) supervised by Alycia Weinberger
6. In Situ Characterization of Primitive Organic Matter in QUE 99177 Through Correlated Microanalytical Techniques, Allison Wende (State University of New York-Oswego) supervised by Larry Nittler
7. Fractionation of Sulfur Isotopes in the Formation of Mars, Neil Foley (Carleton College) supervised by Anat Shahar
8. An Investigation of the Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry of Banded Iron Formations from the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt, Canada, Adrianna Rajkumar (Appalachian State University) supervised by Dominic Papineau
9. Methane Oxidation Under Hydrothermal Conditions: Implications for the Stability of Organics on Mars, Niya Grozeva (State University of New York at Stonybrook) supervised by Dionysis Foustoukos