Jessica Barnes

PTYS/LPL Faculty

Jessica Barnes (She/Her)

Assistant Professor

Ph.D., 2015, The Open University and The Natural History Museum, London UK

Years with LPL: Fall 2019

Cosmochemistry, Lunar Studies, Planetary Analogs

My research focuses on understanding the origin and evolution of volatiles in the solar system. I utilize a combination of nano and microanalytical techniques in the Kuiper-Arizona Laboratory for Astromaterials Analysis to study mineralogy, geochemistry, isotopes and petrological histories of a wide range of extraterrestrial materials. 

My group is currently engaged in a project under the umbrella of Apollo Next-Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) program. The release of sample 71036 presents a unique opportunity to study volatiles in a basalt that has been frozen and specially preserved since its return and to compare those results with basalts of similar bulk chemistries that have been stored at room temperature. This exceptional suite of basalts also offers a chance to unravel the history of volatile loss on the Moon, from the onset of mineral crystallization through vesicle formation, sampling, and subsequent curation. We are conducting a detailed study of the major, minor, and volatile element chemistry (including H isotopes) of H-bearing minerals and melt inclusions in four Apollo 17 basalts, and to determine the U-Pb and Ar ages of the basalts. 

Other ongoing projects include investigating the petrology of igneous lunar samples, coordinated microanalysis of meteorites to investigate the evolution of water in the Martian crust, and studies aimed at assessing the inventories and origins of volatiles on primitive chondritic and achondritic asteroids. The latter includes studies of samples recently returned from asteroid Bennu by the OSIRIS-REx space mission.

View LPL Evening Lecture from September 18, 2019 - The Geological History of the Moon from the Perspective of Unopened Apollo Samples

NASA Postdoctoral Fellow - NASA Johnson Space Center - 2016 to 2019

Postdoctoral Fellow - Lunar and Planetary Institute - 2016

Postdoctoral Researcher - The Open University - 2014 to 2016

PhD Planetary and Space Sciences - The Open University and Natural History Museum, London - 2015

BSc (Honors) Geosciences - University of St Andrews - 2011

Current Grants

  • The Enigma of Evolved Lunar Granites: A Consortium Approach to Solving their Petrogenesis. NASA ANGSA2 Program. CY23-26. Co-Investigator.
  • Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility at the University of Arizona. NASA Planetary Science Enabling Facilities. CY22-26. Co-Investigator.
  • Nanoscale Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer for the Analysis of Planetary Materials. Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. CY20-25. Principal Investigator. 
  • Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) Asteroid Sample Return Mission. NASA New Frontiers Program. CY11-25. Co-Investigator.
  • A Multifaceted Approach to Investigating the Magmatic and Post-magmatic History of Volatiles in Basalts from the Rim of Steno Crater. NASA Apollo Next-Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) program. CY19-24. Principal Investigator.
  • Investigating the Origins and Evolution of Volatiles in the Inner Solar System. NASA Early Career Award. CY20-24. Principal Investigator.
  • Investigating Degassing Histories of Apollo 15 and 17 Lunar Basalts with 3D Visualization and Coordinated Microanalysis. NASA Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) Program. CY21-24. Principal Investigator. Future Investigator - Z. Wilbur (UA)
  • Alien Earths: Which Nearby Planetary Systems Are Likely to Host Habitable Planets and Life? NASA Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (ICAR) Program. CY20-25. Co-Investigator. Principal Investigator - D. Apai (UA).

Current Spacecraft Involvement

  • Co-Investigator on NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. Lead Scientist for the Sample Elements and Isotopes Working Group. Member of Mineralogy and Petrology Working Group, Sample Archiving Data Analysis Working Group, and Contact Pad Working Group.

Current Graduate Students

Student Collaborations/Advising

  • Research advisor to Mitchell Baird (Geophysics Major) Spring 2023-present.
  • Research advisor to Angela Tatsch (Geophysics Major) Spring 2023-present.
  • Research advisor to Calista Madej (Astrobiology Major) Fall 2022-present.
  • Research advisor to Roni Sims (Physics Major). Spring-summer 2022.
  • Space Grant research advisor to Dayana Moreno Huerta (Chemistry Major). Fall 2021 - Spring 2022.
  • Research advisor to Nicole Kerrison (Astronomy Major) Fall 2021-Spring 2023.
  • Research advisor to Cierra Carrillo (Chemistry & Biochem. Major). Fall 2021 - Spring 2022.
  • Research advisor to lunn Jenn Ong (Chemistry Major). Fall 2021 - Spring 2022.
  • Research advisor to Shavonne Morin (Astronomy Major). Fall 2020 - Spring 2021.

Complete publications list available from: NASA ADS Author Search: Jessica J. Barnes and Google Scholar: Jessica Barnes

Recent refereed publications (NASA ADS): Years 2019 through 2023

Wilbur, Z.E., Barnes, J.J., Eckley, S.A., Ong, I.J., Brounce, M., Crow, C.A., Erickson, T., Kent, J.J., Boyce, J.W., Mosenfelder, J.L., Hahn, T., Jr, McCubbin, F.M., Zega, T.J. 2023, Meteorit Planet Sci. Volatiles, vesicles, and vugs: Unraveling the magmatic and eruptive histories of Steno crater basalts

Balaji, S., Zaveri, N., Hayashi, N., Hermosillo Ruiz, A., Barnes, J., Murray-Clay, R., Volk, K., Gerhardt, J., & Syed, Z. 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Can the orbital distribution of Neptune's 3:2 mean-motion resonance result from stability sculpting?

Stadermann, Amanda C., Barnes, Jessica J., Erickson, Timmons M., Prissel, Tabb C., & Michels, Zachary D. 2023, Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets). Evidence for Extrusive Mg-Suite Magmatism on the Moon? Fine-Grained Magnesian Clasts in an Apollo 16 Impact Melt Breccia

Stadermann, Amanda C., Jolliff, Bradley L., Krawczynski, Michael J., Hamilton, Christopher W., & Barnes, Jessica J. 2022, Meteoritics and Planetary Science. Analysis and experimental investigation of Apollo sample 12032,366-18, a chemically evolved basalt from the Moon

Wilbur, Zoë E., Udry, Arya, MCCubbin, Francis M., vander Kaaden, Kathleen E., DeFelice, Christopher, Ziegler, Karen, Ross, Daniel Kent, MCCoy, Timothy J., Gross, Juliane, Barnes, Jessica J., Dygert, Nick, Zeigler, Ryan A., Turrin, Brent D., & MCCoy, Christopher 2022, Meteoritics and Planetary Science. The effects of highly reduced magmatism revealed through aubrites

McCubbin, Francis M., Lewis, Jonathan A., Barnes, Jessica J., Elardo, Stephen M., & Boyce, Jeremy W. 2021, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. The abundances of F, Cl, and H<SUB>2</SUB>O in eucrites: Implications for the origin of volatile depletion in the asteroid 4 Vesta

Hurley, Dana, Blewett, David T., Cahill, Joshua, Chabot, Nancy, Greenhagen, Benjamin, Hibbitts, Charles, Klima, Rachel, Lawrence, David, Mandt, Kathleen, Nunez, Jorge I., Patterson, Wes, Prem, Parvathy, Stickle, Angela, Deutsch, Ariel, Delitsky, Mona, Flahaut, Jessica, Sowers, George, Sefton-Nash, Eliot, Brisset, Julie, Zacny, Kris, Shukla, Shashwat, Grandidier, Jonathan, Hosseini, Sona, Liu, Yang, Bhiravarasu, Sriram, Stopar, Julie, Barker, Donald, Gertsch, Leslie, Jha, Devanshu, Colaprete, Anthony, Elphic, Richard, Banks, Maria, Benna, Mehdi, Farrell, William, Saxena, Prabal, Tucker, O. J., Mitchell, Julie, Needham, Debra, Atkinson, Jared, Barber, Simeon, Hendrix, Amanda, Kramer, Georgiana, Siegler, Matthew, Grava, Cesare, Poston, Michael, Retherford, Kurt, Kumari, Nandita, Barnes, Jessica, Hayne, Paul, Li, Shuai, Lucey, Paul, & Livengood, Timothy 2021, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. Mission to Characterize Volatiles in Old, Cold, Permanently Shadowed Regions on the Moon

Mainzer, Amy, Abell, P., Bannister, Michele T., Barbee, B., Barnes, J., Bell, J. F., Benner, L., Betts, B., Bose, Maitrayee, Bottke, W., Britt, D., Brozović, M., Bruckner, M., Busch, Michael W., Carey, S., Castillo-Rogez, J., Chesley, J., Christensen, E., Chodas, P., Cotto-Figueroa, D., Delbó, M., Daly, R. T., Dotson, J., Eisenhardt, P., Fernandez, Y. R., Fevig, Ronald A., Grav, T., Greenstreet, S., Gritsevich, M., Hammel, Heidi B., Harris, A., Harris, W., Hickson, D., Hughson, Kynan, Ivezić, Željko, Jha, Devanshu, Jones, Lynne, Jurić, Mario, Kacar, B., Lauretta, D., Lazio, Joseph, Lopes, Rosaly M. C., Marchis, F., Marshall, Sean E., Masiero, J., Mathias, D., McMillan, R. S., McMurtry, C., Michel, P., Naidu, S., Nolan, M. C., Okada, T., Pipher, J. L., Raymond, Carol, Rivera-Valentín, E., Rivkin, A., Schambeau, C. A., Scheeres, D., Scully, Jennifer, Sonnett, S., Spahr, T., Stern, A., Swindle, T., Taylor, P., Takir, D., Telus, M., Thomas, C., Venditti, F. C. F., Virkki, Anne K., Wong, A., & Wright, E. L. 2021, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. The Future of Planetary Defense in the Era of Advanced Surveys

Miller, Kelly E., Theiling, Bethany, Hofmann, Amy E., Castillo-Rogez, Julie, Neveu, Marc, Hosseini, Sona, Barnes, Jessica, de Kleer, Katherine, Barrett, Thomas J., Franz, Heather B., Glein, Christopher R., House, Christopher H., Blase, Ryan C., Libardoni, Mark J., Spilker, Linda J., Choukroun, Mathieu, & Drouin, Brian J. 2021, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. The value of CHONS isotopic measurements of major compounds as probes of planetary origin, evolution, and habitability

Stroud, Rhonda, Barnes, Jessica, Nittler, Larry, Gross, Juliane, Davidson, Jemma, Corrigan, Catherine, Ishii, Hope, Cook, Jamie Elsila, Filiberto, Justin, Lawrence, Samuel, Zolensky, Michael, Schrader, Devin, Cohen, Barbara, & McKeegan, Kevin 2021, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. Strategic Investment in Laboratory Analysis of Planetary Materials as Ground Truth for Solar System Exploration

Thompson, Michelle, Barnes, Jessica, Blewett, David, Cahill, Joshua, Denevi, Brett, Donaldson Hanna, Kerri, Gillis-Davis, Jeff, Glotch, Tim, Jha, Devanshu, Kramer, Georgiana, Kumari, Nandita, Legett, Carey, Moriarty, Daniel, Retherford, Kurt, Shukla, Shashwat, Shusterman, Morgan, & Varatherajan, Indhu 2021, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. Space Weathering Across the Solar System: Lessons from the Moon and Outstanding Questions

McCubbin, Francis, Allton, Judith H., Barnes, Jessica J., Calaway, Michael J., Corrigan, Catherine M., Filiberto, Justin, Fries, Marc D., Gross, Juliane, Harrington, Andrea D., Herd, Christopher D. K., Hutzler, Aurore, Ishii, Hope A., McCoy, Timothy J., McKeegan, Kevin, Mitchell, Julie L., Nittler, Larry R., Regberg, Aaron B., Righter, Kevin, Snead, Christopher J., Stroud, Rhonda, Tait, Kimberly T., Yada, Toru, Zeigler, Ryan A., Zolensky, Michael E., & Stansbery, Eileen K. 2021, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. Advanced Curation of Astromaterials for Planetary Science Over the Next Decade

McCubbin, Francis M. & Barnes, Jessica J. 2020, American Mineralogist. The chlorine-isotopic composition of lunar KREEP from magnesian-suite troctolite 76535

Barnes, Jessica J., McCubbin, Francis M., Santos, Alison R., Day, James M. D., Boyce, Jeremy W., Schwenzer, Susanne P., Ott, Ulrich, Franchi, Ian A., Messenger, Scott, Anand, Mahesh, & Agee, Carl B. 2020, Nature Geoscience. Multiple early-formed water reservoirs in the interior of Mars

Barrett, T. J., Barnes, J. J., Anand, M., Franchi, I. A., Greenwood, R. C., Charlier, B. L. A., Zhao, X., Moynier, F., & Grady, M. M. 2019, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Investigating magmatic processes in the early Solar System using the Cl isotopic systematics of eucrites

Peslier, A. H., Hervig, R., Yang, S., Humayun, M., Barnes, J. J., Irving, A. J., & Brandon, A. D. 2019, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Determination of the water content and D/H ratio of the martian mantle by unraveling degassing and crystallization effects in nakhlites

Barnes, Jessica J., Franchi, Ian A., McCubbin, Francis M., & Anand, Mahesh 2019, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Multiple reservoirs of volatiles in the Moon revealed by the isotopic composition of chlorine in lunar basalts

McCubbin, Francis M. & Barnes, Jessica J. 2019, Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Origin and abundances of H<SUB>2</SUB>O in the terrestrial planets, Moon, and asteroids

Semester Course Day/Time Location Resources
Fall 2024 PTYS/ASTR 170A1-200 FULLY ONLINE AZ Online D2L

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