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 the mineralogy and chemistry of planetary materials and their analogs. She specializes in analyses of terrestrial Mars analogs to gain insight into potential martian alteration processes, and the implications of those processes for the habitability of environments on Mars. She has experience collecting samples from several terrestrial Mars analog environments, and interrogating these samples with a variety of analytical techniques, such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), secondary electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and evolved gas analysis (EGA). A major research endeavor has been performing EGA studies of Mars analog minerals and materials in support of similar measurements that are being taken on Mars by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission.
Amy Catherine Mcadam
(RESEARCH AST, PLANETARY STUDIES)
| Email: | amy.mcadam-1@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.614.6020 |
| Org Code: | 699 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 699 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: |
Missions & Projects
Brief Bio
Education
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
Graduate Research/Teaching Assistant
School of Earth and Space Exploration - Arizona State University, Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287
2001 - 2003
Teaching Assistant
Department of Geological Sciences - Natural Sciences Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
2000 - 2001
Summer Research Intern
Geophysical Laboratory - Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5251 Broad Branch Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20015
2000 - 2000
NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Intern
Department of Chemistry - Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
1999 - 1999
Current Projects
Mars Science Laboratory Sample Analysis at Mars collaborator
Mars
Mars Science Laboratory Participating Scientist Program, Co-I
Mars
NASA GSFC Internal Research and Development Program, Co-I
Technology & Missions
Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition team member (NASA ROSES ASTEP program), 2009-2011
Astrobiology
Field evolved gas analysis investigations and sample collection of Mars analog materials.
Field and laboratory-based geochemical and mineralogical analyses of Mars analogs
Mars
Theoretical geochemical modeling of water-rock interactions on Mars
Publications
Refereed
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 [10.1038/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 [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 imprint of atmospheric evolution in the D/H of Hesperian clay minerals on Mars." Science Vol 347 412-414 [[DOI: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 [10.1073/pnas.1420932112] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars." Science 343 6169 [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. 119 373-393 [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 119 237-254 [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 [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
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." LPS XLI Abstract #2206 [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]
Awards
2007 ASU Division of Graduate Studies Dissertation Fellowship
2006, 2007 NASA Space Grant Fellowship
2003-2006 NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program Fellowship
2001-2004 ASU University Graduate Scholars Award
2001-2004 ASU Graduate Tuition Scholarship
2001 The American Chemical Society (MSU) Robert Clark Kedzie Award to the Outstanding Chemistry Major
2001 John T. Wilband Memorial Scholarship, for MSU’s Geology Field Camp
1999-2000 Thomas Alan Deline Scholarship in Chemistry, a MSU research based award
2000 Keki & Phyllis Mistry Award in Chemistry, a MSU research based award
Teaching Experience
Introduction to Geology I (ASU, 2007)
Introduction to Planetary Geology (ASU, 2002)
Introduction to Geology Lab I (ASU, 2001-2002)
Geology and the Human Environment Lab (MSU, 2001)
Plate Tectonics Laboratory (MSU, 2000)
Professional Service
Reviewer of scientific manuscripts for several peer-reviewed journals