MARY BETH WILHELM
Physical Sciences Student Trainee, Civil Servant
Planetary Systems Branch: NASA Ames Research Center
PhD Student, Georgia Tech
marybeth.wilhelm@nasa.gov, mw477@cornell.edu
www.marybethwilhelm.com
EDUCATION:
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PhD Student, beginning August 2012, Georgia Institute of Technology School of Earth &
Atmospheric Sciences
Advisor: Professor James Wray
BA in Earth Systems (concentration in Planetary Sciences) & College Scholar
Program, Jan 2012, Cornell University
Program Advisor: Professor Steve Squyres
RESEARCH & MISSION EXPERIENCE:
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2010–present NASA SCEP Student, Planetary Science Branch, NASA Ames Research
Center: contributed to numerous projects focusing on an analysis of crater ejecta using
CRISM data and a study of cryptoendolithic cyanobacterial communities in the Utah
desert
2008–2011 Project Manager for the Science Team, Cornell University’s Violet Satellite
Project: Responsible for determining a scientific objective for the Violet Spacecraft, a
student-run satellite project funded by the Air Force, acquiring a UV/Visible spectrometer,
providing science and payload requirements to the engineering team, calibrating the
spectrometer, and presenting to sponsors
2009–2011 Researcher, Cornell Microbiology Department: Conducted interdisciplinary
undergraduate thesis work studying microbial communities and biosignatures of
cyanobacteria preserved in thrombolitic bioherms at Green Lake in Fayetteville, NY
2011 Research Assistant, Cornell University Earth and Atmospheric Science Department,
metamorphic petrology research in northern New Mexico
Summer 2010 Intern, Space Life Sciences Division, NASA Johnson Space Center
2008–2010 Research Assistant, Cornell Space Science Department, Infrared Astronomy:
Analyzed data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and Palomar Observatory studying
Young Stellar Objects
2006-2009 Research Assistant, NASA Ames Research Center Space Science and
Astrobiology Department
o Pavilion Lake Research Project Field Assistant: Responsible for assisting
operations and sub-flight planning for the Pavilion Lake Research Project and
investigated rocks with signs of recent microbialite development in Pavilion Lake
in British Columbia, Canada
o Martian Gullies Study: Studied recent liquid water features on the surface of Mars
in order to find constraints on their formation mechanism. Measured, analyzed,
and catalogued images from the Mars Global Surveyor containing gullies.
Compared Martian gully orientation data to regional downslope in order to better
test the shallow aquifer theory.
2008 Research Assistant, SETI Institute: SETI search archive expansion
FIELD WORK EXPERIENCE:
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February 2012 Cryptoendolithic microbial habitat study in the San Rafael Desert, Utah
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March 2012, March 2011 & June 2009 Mojave Desert National Preserve (NASA
Spaceward Bound lecturer and bacterial soil crust study)
July 2011 Field Mapping in the Central Andes, Argentina (Cornell course)
June 2011 Mapping and garnet sample collection in northern New Mexico mountains
(undergraduate research project)
May 2011 Impacts and Volcanism in Germany (Cornell course)
July 2010 & June 2011 Pavilion Lake Research Project in British Columbia, Canada
(Field Assistant)
June 2010 North Dakota Badlands (Spaceward Bound Participant studying glacial
features for application to Mars)
December 2009 & January 2008 Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah Desert,
organized and led Crews 73, 86, 87
July 2009 Mount Palomar Observatory (observations of young stellar objects with Cornell
astronomers)
February 2008 Lassen Volcanic National Park (Field Assistant for snow coring)
PUBLICATIONS:
Wilhelm, M.B. and Hewson I. (2012). Characterization of thrombolitic bioherm cyanobacterial
assemblages in a meromictic marl lake (Fayetteville Green Lake, New York). Geomicrobiology
Journal (in press).
Foing, B.H.,… Wilhelm, M.B., et al. (2011). Field astrobiology research in Moon-Mars analogue
environment: instruments and methods, International Journal of Astrobiology 10:3.
Lim, S.S.D., Brady, A.L., and PLRP Team... Wilhelm, M.B., et al. (2011) A Historical Overview of
the Pavilion Lake Research Project – Analog Science and Exploration in an Underwater
Environment. Geological Society of America Special Paper 483.
PRESENTATIONS:
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“Characterization of thrombolitic bioherm cyanobacterial assemblages in a meromictic
marl lake (Fayetteville Green Lake, New York)” (poster) October, 2011: Earth and
Atmospheric Sciences Department, Cornell University
“Your local early-Earth analog: Microbial ecology of a modern-day microbialite
in Green Lake, Fayetteville, NY” April 11, 2011: Cornell Astronomy Department’s
Planetary Lunch Seminar Series
“The Biosignatures and Microbial Ecology of Cyanobacterial Communities in an EarlyEarth Analog Lake in Fayetteville, NY” (oral presentation) April, 2011: The National
Undergraduate Research Conference
“The Violet Satellite Project” (poster) April, 2011: The National Undergraduate Research
Conference
“Ejecta-Excavated Subsurface Clays Detected in SW Arabia Terra, Mars.”
(poster) December, 2011: Meeting of the American Geophysical Union
“Mars Analog Research” March 5, 2010, Cornell Astronomical Society Public Lecture
Series
“’Life On ‘Mars’- Adventures at the Mars Desert Research Station” March 1, 2010: Cornell
Astronomy Department’s Planetary Lunch Seminar Series
“Diving Deep for the Moon and Mars: The Pavilion Lake Research Project” October 26,
2009: Cornell Astronomy Department’s Planetary Lunch Seminar Series
“The Future of Lunar Exploration” (panel discussion) July 20, 2008: Lunar Science
Conference at NASA Ames Research Center
“Correlation of Regional Topography and Martian Gully Orientation” (poster) October
2008: Division of Planetary Science Conference
“Correlation of Regional Topography and Martian Gully Orientation”
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(poster) April 2008: Astrobiology Conference
“Downward Regional Topography toward Craters Containing Martian Gullies”
(poster) February 2008: Houston Gullies Conference
AWARDS:
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2012 Georgia Tech President’s Fellowship
2012 NSF Graduate Fellowship Honorable Mention
2010-2012, Cornell University Presidential Research Scholar
2007, NASA Ames Honor Award: Student