About Me
Jamie Molaro, PhD
Planetary Scientist, Artist, Nerd
I am Research Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and an Affiliate at geographical host institution the Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I am also a former Participating Scientist and current Sample Science team member on NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve a sample from asteroid Bennu, and a Co-I on the Project ESPRESSO node of the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). My work focuses on fracture processes and breakdown in rocky and icy material on airless bodies. I study the role of thermally induced stresses in boulder disaggregation and regolith production, and the contribution this makes to landscape evolution on the Moon, asteroids, dwarf planets, and comets. I work to understand how this cyclic processing changes the bulk properties of materials, causes fracture development, and the differences between rock and ice in the solar system. I also study ice sintering and the evolution of icy regolith on ocean worlds like Europa and Enceladus. Understanding their surface porosity, strength, and thermal and frictional properties has critical implications for future exploration efforts on these bodies. I study these processes at a variety of scales, from micro- to macroscopic, working to build an in-depth understanding the role thermal forcing plays in surface evolution. I employ a combination of numerical modeling and laboratory experiments in this research, along with the occasional terrestrial field study.
In my free time, I play the harp, write, make stuff out of other stuff, and play lots of D&D, board, and video games with my husband. We live with our dog in the Los Angeles area of California.
Outreach Work:
In 2013 I founded The Art of Planetary Science, an annual exhibition featuring art inspired by the solar system alongside works containing scientific information. We've hosted 13 art shows over the last decade throughout the United States. I've now expanded this work with my workshop Making Space: A Workshop on Space, SciArt, & Society. This workshop aimed at artists and educators is focused on using art as a tool to explore, learn about, and communicate scientific ideas, and demonstrates techniques in creating data-driven art. I currently have a manuscript in press (pre-print available) with Culture & Cosmos on the important role that art can play in the future of space exploration .
Service Work:
I am the founder and executive director of DAIS (Disabled for Accessibility In Space), a peer networking, support, and advocacy group for disabled and chronically ill individuals working in space science and related fields and professions. This group has become a valuable resource for the disabled space community, and as director I contribute to DEIA efforts by speaking at conferences, writing white papers, and consulting on accessibility for conferences.
I also served as the Flight Operations Lead for Mission: AstroAccess, a project advancing research on disability and human spaceflight by flying disabled researchers on parabolic zero-gravity flights. I guided a team of 50+ volunteers in developing the experiments crews would perform on three flights, which investigated tools and technologies to help mitigate challenges that might be faced by future disabled astronauts in weightlessness. A manuscript on this work is also currently in review.
Recent Interviews:
CosmoQuest’s Daily Space with Pamela Gay and Open Space with Frasier Cain to discuss my work studying weathering on asteroid Bennu
transverse RANGES, an online magazine about geoscientists, to discuss how I became a scientist
Art the Science, on communicating science through art
Contact:
jmolaro (at) psi.edu
Twitter: @spacejammie
Instagram: @dataarcana
Personal site (art, writing, & music): www.dataarcana.com