Kelsey Young

Expertise: Geological Sciences
Affiliation: University of Maryland CRESST/ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Certification/Education:
B.S. in Environmental Geosciences, University of Notre Dame, 2009
M.S. in Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, 2012
Ph.D. in Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, 2014

FINESSE Research Objectives

Kelsey will serve as a bridge for collaboration between the RIS4E and FINESSE teams. In her RIS4E work, Kelsey evaluates the use of portable geochemical instrumentation in planetary field geology. She brings her background in conducting field work at terrestrial impact structures to the FINESSE team. Kelsey will be traveling to the West Clearwater Impact Structure with the FINESSE team in 2014 in a collaborative effort to understand the geologic history of the structure.

Biography

Kelsey studies planetary field geology through a combination of investigations at terrestrial analog sites with laboratory work on samples collected from those sites. She has participated in a number of analog mission projects including the 2009 K10 Rover Black Point Flow test, the 2010 Haughton Mars Project, the 2010 Desert RATS field test, and the 2011 Mistastin KRASH Analog mission. Kelsey served both as a science backroom member and as a geologist crewmember for the 2010 Desert RATS mission, living the in Space Exploration Rover for one week with astronaut Stephanie Wilson. Through her work both at the Haughton Mars Project and at the Mistastin Lake impact structure, Young has experience conducting fieldwork at impact structures designed both around exploration initiatives as well as thermochronologic analysis.

Kelsey also investigates the use of portable geochemical instrumentation in conducting field geology, both on Earth and in planetary exploration. She has a postdoctoral research position through the RIS4E SSERVI team investigating these issues and is serving on the FINESSE team as a collaborator from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.