Perseverance and hard work have paid off for Pitt alum Frances Russo (B.S. Geology '22), who recently published her undergraduate senior thesis as a peer-reviewed manuscript in the journal Icarus. The research article ("The effects of measured slope on Martian lava flow modeling") performed a model sensitivity analysis on a commonly used method for investigating the emplacement of Martian lava flows. The results from the study indicate that previous applications of the model may have produced inaccurate compositions for Martian lava flows and presents a new statistical approach to account for topography.
“We are proud of Frances’s dedication to the project and very happy she was able to publish her research”, said Dr. Ian Flynn co-author on the article and co-advisor on Frances’s senior thesis. After graduating, Frances completed a NASA Summer Undergraduate Program for Planetary Research (SUPPR) at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) before working at Maxar, and her current position at URSA Space Systems.
You can access the article here.