Sonny Harman
Affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center
Email: sonny.harman@nasa.gov
Title: Planetary Scientist
Professional Biography:
Sonny studies the atmospheric composition and evolution of low- to intermediate-mass planets using 1-D and 3-D numerical models. His research interests include making connections between the geologic record and the potential atmospheric state of the early Earth; estimating the interactions of a host star’s radiation with the dominant and trace gases in the atmospheres of Earth-like extrasolar planets; and predicting the disposition of warm super-Earths/sub-Neptunes that have lost some (or all) of their hydrogen. He also has a keen interest in innovative scientific data visualizations for a broader audience. Sonny became interested in planetary science as an undergraduate student, ultimately choosing to pursue a graduate degree with Dr. James Kasting at Penn State. Following that, he worked with the ROCKE-3D global climate modeling group at NASA GISS, led by Dr. Anthony Del Genio, as a postdoctoral research scientist working on model development and terrestrial planet simulations. Sonny then spent some time as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of St. Andrews working with Dr. Mark Claire on 1-D photochemical modeling of the sulfur cycle in the early Earth’s atmosphere before coming to NASA Ames in January of 2020.
Education:
Millersville University, 2010: B.S. Physics [Mathematics]
Pennsylvania State University, 2013: M.S. Geosciences
Pennsylvania State University, 2017: Ph.D. Geosciences/Astrobiology [Computational Science]
Research Interests: Planetary atmospheres; atmospheric chemistry; rocky planets; numerical modeling (development, use, and innovative techniques)
Selected Publications:
Harman, C.E., Kopparapu, R.K., Stefánsson, G., Lin, A.S., Mahadevan, S., Hedges, C., and Batalha, N.E., 2022. A Snowball in Hell: The Potential Steam Atmosphere of TOI-1266c. The Planetary Science Journal, 3(2), p.45. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ac38ac
Harman, C.E., 2020. The Chemistry of Extrasolar Planets. Encyclopedia of Geology, p.231. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102908-4.00151-X
Harman, C.E., Pavlov, A.A., Babikov, D., and Kasting, J.F., 2018. Chain formation as a mechanism for mass-independent fractionation of sulfur isotopes in the Archean atmosphere. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 496, pp.238-247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.05.041
Harman, C.E., Felton, R., Hu, R., Domagal-Goldman, S.D., Segura, A., Tian, F., and Kasting, J.F., 2018. Abiotic O2 levels on planets around F, G, K, and M stars: effects of lightning-produced catalysts in eliminating oxygen false positives. The Astrophysical Journal, 866(1), p.56. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aadd9b
Schwieterman, E.W., Kiang, N.Y., Parenteau, M.N., Harman, C.E., DasSarma, S., Fisher, T.M., Arney, G.N., Hartnett, H.E., Reinhard, C.T., Olson, S.L., and Meadows, V.S., 2018. Exoplanet biosignatures: a review of remotely detectable signs of life. Astrobiology, 18(6), pp.663-708. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2017.1729