LEAPS: Laboratory studies of the evolution of airless planetary surfaces.

News

Michelle Thompson

2023

September 2023: Dr. Thompson's role as one of the first to study samples brought back from asteroid Bennu by the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission is highlighted by Purdue.

September 2023: Dr. Laura Chaves defends her dissertation and earns her PhD! Congratulations Dr. Chaves!

August 2023: Undergraduate student Manuel Martinez from Universidad de los Andes completed the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program at LEAPS

August 2023: Dr. Dara Laczniak graduates with a PhD in Planetary Science! Next stop for Dr. Laczniak: Tenure-track lecturer in Geology at Queens College in New York. Best of luck Dara!

July 2023: Dr. Dara Laczniak defends her PhD dissertation and becomes the first doctor to come out of the LEAPS group! Congratulations!

July 2023: Graduate students James McFadden and Lisette Melendez and Post-doc Nicolas Bott receieve travel grants to attend the Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society in Los Angeles.

July 2023: PhD Candidate Alexander Kling is awarded the NASA FINESST Fellowship!

June 2023: PhD Candidate Alexander Kling is awarded an Indiana Space Grant award.

May 2023: PhD Candidate Laura Chaves publishes a new paper on experimental space weathering studies of magnetite!

May 2023: PhD student Alexander Kling advances to Doctoral Candidacy!

April 2023: Dr. Michelle Thompson is promoted to the rank of Associate Professor!!!

April 2023: Graduate student Lisette Melendez earns an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship! Congrats Lisette!

March 2023: Graduate student Alexander Kling earns the LPI Career Development Award.

January 2023: Starting the new year off right with a Solar System Workings proposal being funded to conduct new space weatherng experiments experiments and analyses relevant to Mercury! This work will be conducted by Post-Doc Dr. Nicolas Bott and Dr. Thompson!

2022

December 2022: Laura Chaves is highlighted as one of the 100 most influential Latinos by Bloomberg Linea!

December 2022: A new paper characterizing the space weathering on returned samples from Ryugu is published with Dr. Thompson as a co-author.

December 2022: James McFadden advances to Doctoral Candidacy!

November 2022: Dr. Thompson's work and involvement with the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission "tiger team" is highlighted by Purdue!

October 2022: Dr. Thompson is interviewed about NASA's DART mission.

September 2022: Dr. Thomspon is interviewed about the upcoming Artemis I launch.

August 2022: The exhibit "Apollo Footprints: A View into the Science and Legacy of Apollo 17" opens at Purdue Archives. This exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission and highlights a joint collaborative project between LEAPS and Purdue Archives.

August 2022: Ryugu has arrived in the LEAPS Lab! Several particles from asteroid Ryugu have been delivered by JAXA for analyses to be conducted by Dr. Thompson and new PhD student, Lisette Melendez!

August 2022: New PhD student, Lisette Melendez joins the LEAPS team!

August 2022: PhD Candidate Laura Chaves' first paper, titled 'Space weathering signatures in sulfide and silicate minerals from asteroid Itokawa' is published in Earth, Planets and Space.

August 2022: Laura Chaves delivers an invited talk in the "Planetary-Materials Characterization in the Era of Mission Returned Sample Analysis" session at the Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting in Portland, OR!

July 2022: PhD students Dara Laczniak, Laura Chaves, James McFadden, and Alexander Kling are awarded travel awards to attend the Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society in Glasgow, Scotland.

June 2022: PhD student Alexander Kling is awarded a Joseph Goldstein Scholar Award by the Micronanalysis Society to fund upcoming microscopy experiments on lunar soils.

June 2022: Dr. Michelle Thompson is selected to receive particles from asteroid Ryugu from JAXA. Hers is one of 40 proposals selected in the first international announcement of opportunity to receive these samples!

March 2022: Postdoctoral Research Associate Dr. Nicolas Bott joins LEAPS!

February 2022: PhD Student James McFadden is awarded the LPI Career Development Award!

February 2022: PhD Student James McFadden is awarded the H. Jay Melosh Planetary Science Engagement Fund to support travel to the 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference!

February 2022: PhD Student Alexander Kling is awarded a College of Science Graduate Student Travel Grant to support travel to the 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference!

2021

December 2021: PhD Candidate Dara Laczniak wins the Goldstein Scholar Award from the Microanalysis Society to fund upcoming ion irradiation experiments!

October 2021: PhD Candidate Dara Laczniak wins a Wiley Award for her oral presentation at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society.

August 2021: Laura Chaves advances to Doctoral Candidacy!

July 2021: PhD student Laura Chaves is awarded a 2021 M&M Student Scholar Award to attend the Microscopy and Microanalysis Conference.

July 2021: PhD students Dara Laczniak, Laura Chaves, and Alexander Kling are awarded travel awards to attend the Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society in Chicago.

June 2021: Work on the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) program by PhD student James McFadden and Dr. Thompson highlighted by Purdue.

June 2021: PhD Candidate Dara Laczniak is awarded the NASA FINESST Fellowship!

June 2021: Dara Laczniak advances to Doctoral Candidacy!

May 2021: PhD student Laura Chaves is accepted to join the NASA DART Mission Boarders program.

May 2021: Dr. Michelle Thompson is selected for the NASA PI Launchpad program.

May 2021: Dr. Michelle Thompson joins the OSIRIS-REx mission as a Collaborator.

May 2021: PhD Student Dara Laczniak is awarded an Amelia Earhart Fellowship.

May 2021: Undergraduate researcher Maizey Benner graduates! Next stop is the University of Arizona for her PhD in Planetary Sciences.

May 2021: Undergraduate researcher Maizey Benner named a Purdue College of Science Outstanding Student.

April 2021: The first graduate student-lead author paper of the group is published! Congrats Dara!

March 2021: Graduate Student Dara Laczniak is selected at a Purdue Spring 2021 3MT finalist.

January 2021: Dr. Thompson was quoted in a story about the Apollo sample in the Oval Office.

January 2021: Check out Dr. Thompson's interview with Purdue's 'Full Steam Ahead' podcast about her research.

2020

December 2020: Dr. Michelle Thompson is ready to study newly-returned samples from Hayabusa2 mission.

October 2020: Graduate Student Dara Laczniak is selected to join the NASA Psyche Mission Science Team Shadow Program.

October 2020: Graduate Student Dara Laczniak is selected as a Purdue Fall 2020 3MT finalist.

October 2020: LEAPS group members getting ready for OSIRIS-REx sample return.

September 2020: PhD Student Dara Laczniak was given a Student Spotlight by the Microscopy Society of America.

August 2020: LEAPS welcomes incoming graduate student Alexander Kling!

July 2020: PhD Student James McFadden is awarded an Indiana Space Grant.

July 2020: Dr. Michelle Thompson is awarded a NASA Early Career Fellowship.

June 2020: PhD Student Laura Chaves is awarded the NASA FINESST Fellowship.

May 2020: PhD Student Laura Chaves is awarded an Amelia Earhart Fellowship.

April 2020: PhD Student Dara Laczniak is awarded a Microanalysis Society Scholar Award to fund her attendance at the Microscopy and Microanalysis Conference.

February 2020: PhD Student James McFadden visits NASA Johnson Space Center to help with Apollo 17 core dissection.

January 2020: PhD Student Dara Laczniak is awarded a Lunar and Planetary Institute Career Development Award.

2019

July 2019: PhD Students Laura Chaves and Dara Laczniak are awarded travel grants to attend the Meteoritical Society Conference in Japan.

July 2019: PhD Student Dara Laczniak is awarded an Indiana Space Grant.

April 2019: Dr. Michelle Thompson to investigate untouched Apollo samples.