Catherine Neish Department of Planetary Sciences University of Arizona

Ph.D. in Planetary Science, 2008 University of Arizona Contact: Lunar and Planetary Lab University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 Office: Space Sciences 326 Phone: (520) 621-1594 Email: cdneish

I joined LPL in August 2004 after completing a bachelor's degree in Physics and Astronomy. My interests in general center on astrobiology, and specifically on the aqueous processing of organic compounds on Titan's surface.

EDUCATION

Aug. 2004 - Dec. 2008		Doctoral Program in Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona
Sept. 1999 - May 2004		Combined Honours Physics and Astronomy program, University of British Columbia

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

May 2005 - present		Studying aqueous organic chemistry on Titan, using Cassini RADAR data and FT-MS laboratory data.University of Arizona - Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (Tucson, AZ).
May 2003 - Aug. 2003		Studied the properties of asteroids using the techniques of radar astronomy. NAIC - Arecibo Observatory (Arecibo, PR).
Jan. 2003 - May 2003		Studied the reactions important in stellar nucleosynthesis using a recoil mass separator. TRIUMF - DRAGON collaboration (Vancouver, BC).
May 2002 - Aug. 2002		Analyzed data from HST to determine potential error sources for NASA's Kepler Mission. York University - Department of Physics and Astronomy (Toronto, ON).
May 2001 - Aug. 2001		Investigated the structure of the Be star LS I +61 303 using radio data. University of British Columbia - Department of Physics and Astronomy (Vancouver, BC).

AWARDS

Aug. 2005 - Aug. 2008		NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship - Doctoral
April 2008		Galileo Circle Scholarship, University of Arizona
April 2007		Galileo Circle Scholarship, University of Arizona
April 2006		Edward and Jill Bessey Scholarship in Astrobiology
April 2005		Galileo Circle Scholarship, University of Arizona
Aug. 2004 - Aug. 2005		Julie Payette-NSERC Research Scholarship

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Chapter reviewer for the book Titan after Cassini-Huygens

University of Arizona Graduate and Professional Student Council

President (May 2007 – May 2008) Secretary (May 2006 – April 2007) College of Science Representative (May 2005 – April 2007)

Arizona Students’ Association

Graduate Student Delegate from the University of Arizona (May 2007 – May 2008)

Planetary Science Summer School, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Worked with students and JPL engineers as Co-Principal Investigator for a proposed mission to Venus (August 2007)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Division for Planetary Science, American Astronomical Society

PUBLICATIONS

Neish, C.D., A. Somogyi, J.I. Lunine, and M.A. Smith (2009) Low temperature hydrolysis of laboratory tholins in ammonia-water solutions: Implications for prebiotic chemistry on Titan. Icarus, in press.

A. Coustenis, S.K. Atreya, T. Balint, R.H. Brown, M.K. Dougherty, F. Ferri, M. Fulchignoni, D. Gautier, R.A. Gowen, C.A. Griffith, L.I. Gurvits, R. Jaumann, Y. Langevin, M.R. Leese, J.I. Lunine, C.P. McKay, X. Moussas, I. Müller-Wodarg, F. Neubauer, T.C. Owen, F. Raulin, E.C. Sittler, F. Sohl, C. Sotin, G. Tobie, T. Tokano, E.P. Turtle, J.-E.Wahlund, J.H. Waite, K.H. Baines, J. Blamont, A.J. Coates, I. Dandouras, T. Krimigis, E. Lellouch, R.D. Lorenz, A. Morse, C.C. Porco, M. Hirtzig, J. Saur, T. Spilker, J.C. Zarnecki, E. Choi, C.D. Neish, and 111 colleagues (2009) TandEM: Titan and Enceladus mission. Experimental Astronomy 23, 893-946.

Neish, C.D., Lorenz, R.D., and Kirk, R.L. (2008) Radar topography of domes on planetary surfaces. Icarus 196, 552-564.

Neish, C.D., Somogyi, A., Imanaka, H., Lunine, J.I., and Smith, M.A. (2008) Rate measurements of the hydrolysis of organic polymers in cold aqueous solutions: Implications for prebiotic chemistry on the early Earth and Titan. Astrobiology 8, 273-287.

R.M.C. Lopes, K.L. Mitchell, E.R. Stofan, J. I. Lunine, R. Lorenz, F. Paganelli, R. L. Kirk, C.A. Wood, S.D. Wall, L. Robshaw, A.D. Fortes, C.D. Neish, J. Radebaugh, E. Reffet, C. Elachi, G. Boubin, M. D. Allison, Y. Anderson, R. Boehmer, P. Callahan, P. Encrenaz, E. Flamini, G. Francescetti, Y. Gim, G. Hamilton, S. Hensley, M. A. Janssen, W. T. K. Johnson, K. Kelleher, D. O. Muhleman, G. Ori, R. Orosei, S. J. Ostro, G. Picardi, F. Posa, L. E. Roth, R. Seu, S. Shaffer, L. A. Soderblom, B. Stiles, S. Vetrella, R.D. West, L. Wye, and H. A. Zebker (2007) Cryovolcanic features on Titan’s surface as revealed by the Cassini Radar Mapper. Icarus 186, 395-412.

Neish, C.D., Lorenz, R.D., O’Brien, D.P., and the Cassini RADAR Team (2006) The potential for prebiotic chemistry in the possible cryovolcanic dome Ganesa Macula on Titan. The International Journal of Astrobiology 5, 57-65.

Nolan, M.C., Howell, E.S., Rivkin, A.S., and Neish, C.D. (2003) (5381) Sekhmet. IAU Circular. 8163: 1

Gregory, P.C. and Neish, C.D. (2002) Density and velocity structure of the Be star equatorial disk in the binary LS I +61 303, a probable microquasar. The Astrophysical Journal. 580: 1133-1148

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Neish, C.D., A. Somogyi, J.I. Lunine, and M.A. Smith (2008) Hydrolysis of laboratory made tholins in aqueous solutions: Implications for prebiotic chemistry on Titan. The American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #34.09. Oral presentation.

Neish, C.D., and 15 colleagues (2007) VEIL (Venus Exploration In-situ Landers): A New Frontiers Class Mission Design Concept. The American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #34.13. Poster presentation.

Neish, C.D., Lorenz, R.D., and Kirk, R.L. (2006) Radar topography of dome volcanoes on Venus and Titan. The 37th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Abstract 2151. Poster presentation.

Neish, C.D., Lorenz, R.D., O'Brien, D.P., and the Cassini RADAR Team (2005) Shape and thermal modeling of the possible cryovolcanic dome Ganesa Macula on Titan: Astrobiological implications. The American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #37, #46.11. Poster presentation

Neish, C.D., Nolan, M.C., Howell, E.S., and Rivkin, A.S. (2004) Radar Observations of Binary Asteroid 5381 Sekhmet. The American Astronomical Society Meeting 203, #134.02. Oral presentation

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Last Modified: 28 February 2009