Planetary Environments Laboratory

Amy Catherine McAdam

(RESEARCH AST, PLANETARY STUDIES)

Amy Catherine McAdam's Contact Card & Information.
Email: amy.mcadam-1@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.6020
Org Code: 699
Address:
NASA/GSFC
 Mail Code 699
 Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Missions & Projects

Brief Bio

Dr. McAdam is a Research Space Scientist in the Planetary Environments Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. She is a geochemist with a research emphasis on characterizing the mineralogy and chemistry of planetary materials and their analogs to understand alteration processes, environmental history and habitability.  She carries out this work through analysis of data from planetary missions, laboratory analyses of the planetary materials and their analogs, field work in planetary analog environments, and involvement in the development of mission and instrument concepts.  


She has experience with a variety of analytical techniques, such as evolved gas analysis mass spectrometry (EGA-MS), thermogravimetry (TG), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), secondary electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). 


She serves as the Deputy PI of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on the current Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover mission.  A major research endeavor has been analysis of data from SAM and performing related laboratory studies of Mars analog minerals and materials.

Education

Ph.D. in Geological Sciences (2008), Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe, AZ, USA.
B.S. in Chemistry (2001), Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI, USA.
B.S. in Geology (2001), Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI, USA.
Additional Major in Environmental Geosciences (2001), Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI, USA.

Positions/Employment

Research Space Scientist

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Code 699, 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771

2009 - Present

NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Code 699, 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771

2008 - 2009

NASA Space Grant Fellow and Division of Graduate Studies Dissertation Fellow

School of Earth and Space Exploration - Arizona State University, Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287

2007 - 2008

NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program Fellow

School of Earth and Space Exploration - Arizona State University, Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287

2003 - 2006

Special Experience

• MSL Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Team, Deputy PI (2022-present), Collaborator (2008-2021)

• Mars Science Laboratory Participating Scientist Program, PI (2016-2022) and co-I (2011-2015)

• PRIME-1 MSolo Instrument Team Member (2023-present)

• VIPER MSolo Instrument Team Member (2023-present)

Professional Service

• Co-Lead, GSFC Mars Sample Return Science Theme Group (2023-current)

• Co-lead for the Goddard Instrument Field Team Internal Scientist Funding Model (2019-2022)

• GSFC lead for In-Situ Resource Utilization System Capability Leadership Team (2018-present)

• External reviewer and panel member for several NASA grant programs

• Reviewer of scientific manuscripts for several peer-reviewed journals

Awards

NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Metal (2022)

Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award (2021)

NASA Group Achievement Award, ISFM (Internal Scientist Funding Model) Team (2020)

NASA Special Act Award, ISFM Goddard Instrument Field Team Leadership (2020)

NASA Group Achievement Award, MSL Extended Mission-1 Science & Ops Team (2017)

NASA Group Achievement Award, MSL Prime Mission Science and Operations Team (2015)

NASA Group Achievement Award, MSL SAM Instrument Dev. and Science Team (2013)

NASA Group Achievement Award, The Sample Analysis at Mars team (2011)

Antarctica Service Metal (for Antarctic service during the ’08-’09 ANSMET field season) (2009)

 

Selected Publications

Refereed

2024. "Environmental Changes Recorded in Sedimentary Rocks in the Clay-Sulfate Transition Region in Gale Crater, Mars: Results from the Sample Analysis at Mars-Evolved Gas Analysis Instrument onboard the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 129 e2024JE008587 [Full Text] [10.1029/2024JE008587] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Simplified Meteorite Parent Body Alteration of Amino Acids by Hydrothermal Processes." Astrobiology [10.1089/ast.2024.0096] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Organic Products of Fatty Acid and Magnesium Sulfate Mixtures after Gamma Radiolysis: Implications for Missions to Europa." Astrobiology 126 (4): e2020JE006803 [Full Text] [10.1089/ast.2024.0047] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Highly enriched carbon and oxygen isotopes in carbonate-derived CO2 at Gale crater, Mars." PNAS 121 (42): e2321342121 [Full Text] [10.1073/pnas.2321342121] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Variable and Large Losses of Diagnostic Biomarkers After Simulated Cosmic Radiation Exposure in Clay- and Carbonate-Rich Mars Analog Samples." Astrobiology [10.1089/ast.2023.0123] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Life Underground: Investigating Microbial Communities and Their Biomarkers in Mars‐Analog Lava Tubes at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 127 (11): [10.1029/2022je007268] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Mars Science Laboratory CheMin Data From the Glen Torridon Region and the Significance of Lake‐Groundwater Interactions in Interpreting Mineralogy and Sedimentary History." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 127 (11): [10.1029/2021je007099] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Constraining Alteration Processes Along the Siccar Point Group Unconformity, Gale Crater, Mars: Results from the Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument." Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets 127 (11): e2022JE007387 [10.1029/2022JE007387] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Diagnostic biosignature transformation under simulated martian radiation in organic-rich sedimentary rocks." Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences 9 [10.3389/fspas.2022.919828] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Organic carbon concentrations in 3.5-billion-year-old lacustrine mudstones of Mars." Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 119 (27): e2201139119 [Full Text] [10.1073/pnas.2201139119] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "The Curiosity Rover’s Exploration of Glen Torridon, Gale crater, Mars: An Overview of the Campaign and Scientific Results." Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets 128 (1): e2022JE007185 [Full Text] [10.1029/2022JE007185] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Evolved gas analyses of sedimentary rocks from the Glen Torridon Clay-Bearing Unit, Gale crater, Mars: Results from the Mars Science Laboratory Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 127 (9): e2022JE007179 [10.1029/2022JE007179] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Oxidized and reduced sulfur observed by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on the Curiosity rover within the Glen Torridon region at Gale crater, Mars." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 127 (9): e2021JE007084 [Full Text] [10.1029/2021JE007084] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "A Review of the Phyllosilicates in Gale Crater as Detected by the CheMin Instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity Rover." Minerals 11 (8): 847 [Full Text] [10.3390/min11080847] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "A review of Sample Analysis at Mars-Evolved Gas Analysis (SAM-EGA) laboratory analog work supporting the presence of perchlorates and chlorates in Gale crater, Mars." Minerals 11 (5): [Full Text] [10.3390/min11050475] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Pyrolysis of Oxalate, Acetate, and Perchlorate Mixtures and the Implications for Organic Salts on Mars." Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets 126 (4): e2020JE006803 [Full Text] [10.1029/2020JE006803] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Solubility of CO2 in Sodium Silicate Melts." ACS Earth and Space Chemistry 4 (11): 2113-2120 [10.1021/acsearthspacechem.0c00223] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Accuracies and detection limits of major, minor, and trace element quantification in rocks by portable laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy." Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy 171 [10.1016/j.sab.2020.105946] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Benzoic Acid as the Preferred Precursor for the Chlorobenzene Detected on Mars: Insights from the Unique Cumberland Analog Investigation." The Planetary Science Journal 1 (2): 41 [10.3847/psj/aba690] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Detection of reduced sulfur on Vera Rubin ridge by quadratic discriminant analysis of volatiles observed during evolved gas analysis." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 125 (8): e2019JE006304 [Full Text] [10.1029/2019JE006304] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Constraints on the Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Vera Rubin ridge, Gale Crater, Mars, from Mars Science Laboratory Sample Analysis at Mars Evolved Gas Analyses." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets [Full Text] [10.1029/2019JE006309] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Indigenous and exogenous organics and surface-atmosphere cycling inferred from carbon and oxygen isotopes at Gale crater." Nature Astronomy 4 526-532 [Full Text] [10.1038/s41550-019-0990-x] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Recovery of Fatty Acids from Mineralogic Mars Analogs by TMAH Thermochemolysis for the Sample Analysis at Mars Wet Chemistry Experiment on the Curiosity Rover." Astrobiology 19 (4): 522-546 [Full Text] [10.1089/ast.2018.1819] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Abiotic input of fixed nitrogen by bolide impacts to Gale crater during the Hesperian. Insights from the Mars Science Laboratory." Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets 124 (1): 94-113 [Full Text] [10.1029/2018JE005852] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "The Incorporation of Field Portable Instrumentation Into Human Planetary Surface Exploration." Earth and Space Science 5 24 [10.1029/2018ea000378] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Major Volatiles Evolved From Eolian Materials in Gale Crater." Geophysical Research Letters [Full Text] [10.1029/2018gl079059] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars." Science 360 (6393): 1096-1101 [Full Text] [10.1126/science.aas9185] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared spectral characterization of Hawaiian fumarolic alteration near Kilauea's December 1974 flow: Implications for spectral discrimination of alteration environments on Mars." American Mineralogist 103 (1): 11-25 [10.2138/am-2018-6116] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "A Two-Step K-Ar Experiment on Mars: Dating the Diagenetic Formation of Jarosite from Amazonian Groundwaters." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets [10.1002/2017je005445] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Large sulfur isotope fractionations in Martian sediments at Gale crater." Nature Geoscience 10 658–662 [Full Text] [10.1038/ngeo3002] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Evolved Gas Analyses of Sedimentary Rocks and Eolian Sediment in Gale Crater, Mars: Results of the Curiosity Rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument from Yellowknife Bay to the Namib Dune." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 122 (12): 2574-2609 [Full Text] [10.1002/2016je005225] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Magnesium sulfate as a key mineral for the detection of organic molecules on Mars using pyrolysis." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 121 (1): 61-74 [10.1002/2015je004884] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "The origin and implications of clay minerals from Yellowknife Bay, Gale crater, Mars." American Mineralogist 100 (4): 824-836 [10.2138/am-2015-5077ccbyncnd] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "The imprint of atmospheric evolution in the D/H of Hesperian clay minerals on Mars." Science 347 (6220): 412-414 [Full Text] [10.1126/science.1260291] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Evidence for indigenous nitrogen in sedimentary and aeolian deposits from the Curiosity rover investigations at Gale crater, Mars." Proceedings of National Academy of Science 112 (14): 4245-4250 [Full Text] [10.1073/pnas.1420932112] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars." Science 343 (6169): 1245267 [Full Text] [doi:10.1126/science.1245267] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Sulfur-bearing Phases Detected by Evolved Gas Analysis of the Rocknest Aeolian Deposit, Gale Crater." J. Geophys. Res. 119 (2): 373-393 [Full Text] [10.1002/2013JE004518] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Abundances and Implications of Volatile-bearing Species from Evolved Gas Analysis of the Rocknest Aeolian Deposit, Gale Crater, Mars." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 119 (1): 237-254 [Full Text] [10.1002/2013JE004493] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Isotopic and geochemical investigation of two distinct Mars analog environments using evolved gas techniques in Svalbard, Norway." Icarus 224 (2013): 297-308 [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Volatile, Isotope, and Organic Analysis of Martian Fines with the Mars Curiosity Rover." Science 341 (6153): 1238937 [Full Text] [10.1126/science.1238937] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "The influence of mineralogy on recovering organic acids from Mars analogue materials using the "one-pot" derivatization experiment on the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite." Planet. Space Sci. 67 1-13 [10.1016/j.pss.2012.02.010] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Preferential low-pH dissolution of pyroxene in plagioclase-pyroxene mixtures: Implications for martian surface materials." Icarus 196 90-96 [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Formation of silica by low-temperature acid alteration of martian rocks: Physical-chemical constraints." Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets 113 [10.1029/2007JE003056] [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2020. "Lunar Water ISRU Measurement Study (LWIMS): Establishing a Measurement Plan for Identification and Characterization of a Water Reserve." NASA Technical Memorandum 20205008626 [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20205008626] [Report]

2013. "Fluorocarbon Contamination from the Drill on the Mars Science Laboratory: Potential Science Impact on Detecting Martian Organics by Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)." 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference [Full Text] [Proceedings]

2011. "Field characterizaton of the mineralogy and organic chemistry of carbonates from the 2010 Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition by Evolved Gas Analysis." LPS XLII Abstract #2136 [Proceedings]

2010. "Evolved Gas Analysis and X-ray Diffraction of Carbonate Samples from the 2009 Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition: Implications for Mineralogical Inferences from the Mars Science Laboratory." 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference [Full Text] [Proceedings]

2009. "Antarctic Mars analogs and interpretation of martian alteration signatures." LPS XL Abstract #1032 [Proceedings]

2008. "Iron oxides in Ferrar Dolerite weathering products (Martian soil analogs)." Meteoritics and Planetary Science 43 A94 [Proceedings]

Contact Us

Charles Malespin
Chief
301-614-6042
charles.a.malespin@nasa.gov

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