Spring Break
Mars research garners UA grad student national recogniton
Profile
Mary Robbins
Issue date: 8/27/07 Section: News
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As a child, Julie Chittenden would grab a beach towel and sit outside at night to watch the stars. By the age of 12, she dreamed of one day becoming an astronaut.
"I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by the stars," she said.
Her interest in the stars and space followed her to adulthood where she has spent four years doing doctorate research at the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences at the UA, according to a UA press release.
She won the Geological Society of America's Stephen E.. Dwornik student research award at the 2007 Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference in Houston, according to a UA press release.
"I was ecstatic to win," Chittenden said.
She had attended this conference several times before, but this year, after taking her professor's suggestion, Chittenden entered her own research in the contest, she said.
Chittenden's research marks the effects of wind and soil on water stability on Mars, and it suggests that water on the red planet might be able to support life.
Chittenden was in charge of the experiments and was able to recreate martian atmospheric conditions at the UA laboratory through a simulation chamber, she said.
"I think there are only a few groups that have hands-on labs, and those include groups at Caltech, some in Europe and here at the UA," said Derek Sears, director of the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences. "And I think we're pretty much leading the way. If we're not the leader, we're certainly one of the leaders," Sears said in a UA press release.
"There was rarely a typical day of research," Chittenden said.
Generally, she would start the day by cooling the simulation chamber and recreating the atmosphere of Mars. She would run two to three experiments every day, breaking only for a quick bite to eat at the Arkansas Union, she said. The research spanned four years, and Chittenden said she had to run hundreds of experiments on the same thing to make sure her results were correct. Although there were "hard times and good times" she never got tired of researching Mars, she said.
"I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by the stars," she said.
Her interest in the stars and space followed her to adulthood where she has spent four years doing doctorate research at the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences at the UA, according to a UA press release.
She won the Geological Society of America's Stephen E.. Dwornik student research award at the 2007 Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference in Houston, according to a UA press release.
"I was ecstatic to win," Chittenden said.
She had attended this conference several times before, but this year, after taking her professor's suggestion, Chittenden entered her own research in the contest, she said.
Chittenden's research marks the effects of wind and soil on water stability on Mars, and it suggests that water on the red planet might be able to support life.
Chittenden was in charge of the experiments and was able to recreate martian atmospheric conditions at the UA laboratory through a simulation chamber, she said.
"I think there are only a few groups that have hands-on labs, and those include groups at Caltech, some in Europe and here at the UA," said Derek Sears, director of the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences. "And I think we're pretty much leading the way. If we're not the leader, we're certainly one of the leaders," Sears said in a UA press release.
"There was rarely a typical day of research," Chittenden said.
Generally, she would start the day by cooling the simulation chamber and recreating the atmosphere of Mars. She would run two to three experiments every day, breaking only for a quick bite to eat at the Arkansas Union, she said. The research spanned four years, and Chittenden said she had to run hundreds of experiments on the same thing to make sure her results were correct. Although there were "hard times and good times" she never got tired of researching Mars, she said.
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