On a Mission to Mars

Geology graduate works on Mars rover Curiosity team

By Stephen Snyder

Pizza to Mars: Sounds like an exercise in brainstorming. The question is ‘how do you arrive at one from the other’? For Shaunna Morrison (’11), the answer lies in an attraction to geology – a science that connects everything together.

Not Your Papa’s Pizza

“I was studying business at another school, while running Papa’s Pizza in Montezuma and realized that what you learn in business school, aside from accounting, doesn’t always directly apply,” Morrison said.

Like many before her, she chose a major in a field that did not suit her. After taking a science class, though, she began down a path that would be out of this world.

“I took an introductory chemistry course, and I didn’t have much of a background in science, period, let alone in chemistry,” she said. “It was so fascinating to me to understand the world on an atomic level; that every single thing that you’re touching is made up of atoms bonded in various ways.”

“It was really eye-opening,” she added. “Suddenly, the world wasn’t as mysterious. I knew that I wanted to go into science after that; however, the school I was attending only had a biology program. I took the biology course, and after taking it, I knew biology was not what I wanted to do.”

Working as co-owner and manager of Papa’s Pizza in neighboring Montezuma, Morrison wanted to transfer to a school that was close enough to commute, and she knew that Georgia Southwestern had well-thought-of professors. Intent on majoring in chemistry, her dad suggested a different form of science.

Morrison worked at Papa’s Pizza To Go during her time at GSW. Here she is with her business partner, GSW alum Amanda Dunmon.

Change of Course

“My father called me one day and asked me if I knew GSW had a geology program,” she explained. “I found the website and was getting more and more interested. Then I thought, ‘what does a geologist do?’ I didn’t realize that geology was something that you could actually study and potentially have a job.”

By doing a little research, Morrison found that geologists do everything. “Everything that isn’t grown comes from the Earth as minerals and oil – it’s where plastics, fuel and metal come from,” she said.

After emailing Geology Professor Dr. Tom Weiland with interest in GSW’s program, the initial response was very encouraging.

“He wrote me back within five minutes,’” Morrison said, impressed. “I immediately had this wonderful, warm rapport with him. He made it such an easy transition. He was my advisor for the rest of the time I was there. I literally cannot say enough good things about all of GSW’s geology professors: Dr. Weiland, Dr. Burt Carter and Dr. Sam Peavy.”

Morrison excelled in her studies at GSW, earning the Daniel D. Arden, Jr. Science Scholarship twice and the American Institute of Professional Geologists Student of the Year Award. She graduated in May 2011.

On the Field Morrison poses for a picture wearing her hard hat during a Flux Mine mineral collecting trip in Patagonia, Ariz., 2012.

Paradise Year-round

“Georgia Southwestern competes with and tops other geology schools,” Morrison explained when discussing geology programs. “For an undergraduate program, hands down, I would not trade my experience there for the world.”

Morrison applied to five different graduate schools: the University of Georgia, Oregon State University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan. She was accepted to all but Michigan.

When she initially reached out to faculty at Arizona, she did not receive a reply. As a result, she was “pretty dead-set on going to Notre Dame.”

Fortunately, Dr. Bob Downs saw her application later on and contacted her directly.

“Basically, you get into graduate school because a professor wants you as a graduate student,” she explained. Two professors, in particular, showed interest in Morrison – one from Notre Dame and Downs.

Morrison was the only potential graduate student with whom Downs was interested in working, and his projects were in rare earth element mineralogy – exactly what she was looking for. She was happy to be headed to Tucson.

“My single favorite thing about Tucson is the weather because it is paradise almost year-round,” she exclaimed. “However, I wasn’t going to let that be the determining factor. I knew pretty quickly that Dr. Downs was someone that I would like to work with. I really, really clicked with him.” For someone who is interested in minerals, the University of Arizona is the right place to go. Downs has developed the largest mineral database in the world, having 3,000 species in house, an impressive collection, seeing as there are only 4,500 known minerals.

Ready for Action Morrison visits the Curiosity rover model with full instrumentation, excluding Che Min and SAM instruments, in the JPL Mars yard in October 2012.

Curiosity Peaked

Morrison’s graduate research funding was through NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Downs, her advisor, is a co-investigator for the CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy) instrument on the Mars rover Curiosity.

According to NASA, CheMin is an X-ray diffraction instrument designed to “identify and measure the abundances of various minerals on Mars.” In total, there are 10 different instruments on the SUV-sized rover, including special cameras, radiation detectors and spectrometers.

“My funding was through NASA,” she said, “however, I was never supposed to be working on the mission. I was able to go to launch of the rover in November 2011 at Cape Canaveral, which was amazing. Aside from that, I wasn’t supposed to be involved.”

Downs was helping NASA get ready to operate CheMin. In talking with CheMin’s principal investigator (PI), Dr. David Blake, and some of the other team members at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), they asked if Morrison would be interested in coming and working on the spacecraft. After all, they were funding her research.

Morrison did not need convincing. “Do you want me to get on a plane right now?!,” she exclaimed regarding Downs’ inquiry.

“I was at JPL for the landing while everyone was waiting with bated breath to see if we were going to crash on the surface, tip over or fly past the planet,” Morrison explained. At an average distance of 139 million miles from Earth (because of its orbit), it took eight months for Curiosity to land on Mars.

“It did land successfully. The crowd went wild. It was an electrifying experience to be a part of,” she said. “Some of these people had been working on their instruments for 20 years and on the mission itself for 10. So, this was a huge moment for a lot of people, and it was incredible to be there and be a part of it.”

“My very first training experience was actually after we landed,” said Morrison. “I was a very young scientist in experience. It was like drinking from a fire hose. Everyone else on the CheMin team had a minimum of two years working on the mission before the rover landed.”

Success on Mars Morrison poses with a sign on the fence of the JPL facility in Pasadena, Calif., celebrating the successful landing of the Mars rover.

Life as a Martian

Working on the Mars rover mission required Morrison to live in Pasadena, Calif. for three months at JPL, which is part of CalTech (the California Institute of Technology). It also required the team to work on a mars time schedule.

“A mars day is 24 hours and 40 earth minutes,” she said. “We ended up being just a little bit out of sync. Sometimes our day would start at 3 p.m.; sometimes it would start at 3 a.m. They were really odd hours.”

Understandably, the team of scientists wanted to avoid any missteps, so they worked carefully.

“Everyone was super cautious in the beginning because they were testing everything and making sure the instruments were healthy and ready to go,” Morrison said, mentioning they were working 16 to 18-hour days. “It was interesting and it was fun. Sitting in this room with engineers, scientists and instrument operators, it was like being in a movie.”

Morrison still works with the CheMin instrument, but it is all done remotely. The team meets in person a few times a year to talk about things. Now back in Arizona, Morrison clearly understands how fortunate she is to work on this project thanks to Downs and PI Blake.

“I have to pinch myself sometimes,” she said. “It’s the most incredible thing I have ever done in my entire life, and I think I’ve peaked at age 25!”

Beyond Mars

“This summer, I am doing an internship in Houston with Chevron,” she said. “It is sort of a fluke thing because I don’t have a geophysics background.” During that time, she will continue working on Mars Science Laboratory operations for a few days each month.

In addition to her work with CheMin, Morrison has three years of funding left on a graduate research fellowship she was awarded from the National Science Foundation, and she would like to maximize her time at Arizona until that time comes. Presently, she is classifying a new mineral that will publish shortly, and she is working on a paper for CheMin that will go in “American Mineralogist.”

When discussing future job prospects, she said “Hopefully, I will have options, but when it comes down to it, we will see who hires me. I’ll probably take the job I’m offered.”

She will likely be able to take her pick. It’s not like they’d be hiring someone who works at a pizza place.