Keen to head for the frontier? Then join Devon in photographing and collecting samples for lab analysis from periglacial features in the high arctic. Trips could have a variety of goals.  For example, the investigations may focus on measuring the clast size, orientation, and texture of sediments in eskers (ancient subglacial stream deposits) in order to sleuth out the stream flow conditions that formed them.  Perhaps you’d prefer to bore into 100 m diameter pingos (ice-cored mounds) and take samples for lab analysis? 

Whatever the focus of the trip, the work will require sustained physical activity, involving extended hiking, while possibly carrying scientific equipment.  In addition, sturdy outdoor gear will be necessary.  The greatest requirement, of course, is a keen scientific interest... and the grace to go where the data flow leads!  Subsequent collaboration with Devon on writing up the results for scientific publication is an anticipated possibility, but is not required.

Although the canals that were once claimed to crisscross the surface of Mars all turned out to be optical illusions, the ironic fact is that the Red Planet is riven by natural “channels” – the now-dry courses of running water. While clearly indicative of a watery past, these channels pose many questions about Mars’ evolution and its potential for life. How much water would it have taken to make the canyons? Just what mechanism provoked these floods from within Mars’ crust? Were Martian subsurface aquifers ever habitable, in the way aquifers are on Earth? And could sediment in these channels contain the fossilized remains of ancient life?

Geologist Devon Burr has a wide-ranging interest in potential sites for life nearby. In addition to studying the real “canals” on Mars, she also tries to identify places where there might be water ice just below this planet’s dry, sandy surface. What would produce such near-surface ice? If there are sources of heat within the martian interior that might cause occasional melting, would this be a good place to look for signs of life?

In addition to her Mars research, Devon is also interested in the geology of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Titan has a bitter, cold landscape where rivers and lakes are filled not with water but with liquid natural gas, and where organic compounds fall from the sky. For this researcher, one world is not enough.

For more information on how to adopt this scientist
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