Private pilot's certificate (airplane single-engine land), 2016
Instrument rating, 2023
My background is in Computer Science, Planetary Science, and
Geology. I am most interested in problems that lie at the interfaces
between these fields, such as automated methods (artificial
intelligence, machine learning) to investigate science questions using
planetary data (orbital and in situ).
I worked at the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, as a researcher in the
Machine Learning and Instrument
Autonomy Group, investigating ways that machine learning can be
used to increase the autonomy of space missions (2003 to 2022).
My other roles at JPL include serving as a
tactical planner and uplink lead for the
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity (2013 to 2017) and
the PDS Imaging Node
Technologist (2018 to 2022).
I've also conducted research and
taught classes in Computer Science
at Oregon State University.
My research projects at JPL have included:
- Onboard science for Europa Clipper: Developing and testing methods
to quickly analyze data as it is collected during a flyby of Europa to
assign high downlink priorities to the most scientifically valuable
observations and to enable cross-instrument collaboration
- Mars Target Encyclopedia: Information extraction from scientific
publications for planetary science
- V-FASTR: Efficient machine learning to detect transient radio phenomena (e.g., pulsars and Fast Radio Bursts) in real time
- Collaborative machine learning for sensor networks
- Automatic landmark identification and change detection in Mars orbital images (dark slope streaks, dust devil tracks, etc.)
- Analyzing the sensitivity of machine learning algorithms to high-radiation environments
- Predicting county-level crop yield from Earth orbital images
- Modeling user preferences for sets, rather than individual items
(like music playlists or rover image downlink sets)
- Modeling flight software with state charts and using automatic code generation to convert them into C/C++ (for implementation) or Promela (for model checking)
- Tracking the north polar ice caps (water and CO2) on Mars
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