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Reserach Overviews:

Dr. Lauretta is interested in the origin of the solar system. He studies the chemistry of the solar nebula, which is the cloud of gas and dust from which our solar system formed. Meteorites are important remnants from the early solar system. He performs experiments to reproduce the minerals in meteorites. These simulated products are compared to meteorites that have not been altered since accretion into an asteroid. Meteorites may have also played an important role in the origin of life. Dr. Lauretta is interested in understanding the source of complex organic molecules in the early solar system. He runs an analytical facility inside the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. In this lab, he applies inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to extra-terrestrial samples. In particular, he is developing techniques to analyze cometary particles returned by the STARDUST spacecraft.

In 2005, together with Marvin Killgore, Dante founded and became the director of Southwest Meteorite Center.

CV and list of publications