NASA Logo in the header
Science Proposal Support Office

Jennifer Claire Stern

(RESEARCH AST, PLANETARY STUDIES)

Jennifer Claire Stern's Contact Card & Information.
Email: jennifer.c.stern@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.6062
Org Code: 699
Address:
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 699
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Brief Bio


Dr. Jennifer Stern is a Space Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, specializing in the study of the chemistry of the atmosphere and surface of Mars, and instrument development for geochemical measurements on planetary surfaces. In particular, she is interested in whether Mars ever had a nitrogen cycle, and how we look to terrestrial Mars-like environments to understand both biological and abiotic nutrient cycling. She is a member of the science team for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover Curiosity and the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite, one of the 10 instruments on Curiosity, which uses mass and laser spectrometry to measure the chemical composition of the atmosphere and surface of Mars. She is also the Payload Development Lead for the Gas Chromatography subsystem on the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer, which will fly on the Dragonfly mission to Titan.


Back on Earth, Dr. Stern runs the Stable Isotope Facility in the Planetary Environments Laboratory (PEL) where she studies the carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen isotope systematics of terrestrial and laboratory planetary analogs of Mars and Titan. She is also interested in the Arctic as an analog for Mars and Ocean Worlds, and has spent 4 field seasons in the Arctic.


Dr. Stern has a BA in Geology-Biology from Brown University and a PhD in Geochemistry from Florida State University, where she developed analytical techniques for isotope and trace metal analysis of environmental waters in order to trace the impacts of agriculture in the Florida Everglades and methane emissions from landfills. She decided to apply her interest in geochemistry to astrobiology as a postdoctoral fellow at NASA Ames Research Center and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she studied how organic molecules can be formed by non-biological processes occurring in meteorites and at hydrothermal vents. Today, in parallel with her participation on the Curiosity team conducting experiments on Mars, she participates in field expeditions to places where geochemical processes similar to those that may have occurred Mars are recorded in Earth’s rock record, such as Greenland, Svalbard, and southern Mexico.

Positions/Employment


Research Space Scientist

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

December 2008 - Present


ORAU-NASA Postdoctoral Fellow

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

April 2007 - November 2008


NRC/ORAU-NASA Postdoctoral Fellow

NASA Ames Research Center - Moffett Field, CA

October 2005 - March 2007

Education


Ph.D. (Geology - 2005) Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
B.A. (Geology-Biology - 1998) Brown University, Providence, RI
Class W-149 (Spring 1997) SEA Semester, Woods Hole, MA

Professional Service


  • Co-Lead, Mars Sample Return Science Theme Group, GSFC (2023-current)
  • Rock Sample Team Member, Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group (2022-current)
  • Lead, Ocean Worlds Analog Assessment Workshop Development (2022-2023)
  • Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) Goals Committee Representative, Goal 1: Life and Habitability on Mars (2018-current)
  • Fundamental Laboratory Research (FLaRe) Internal Funding Science Model (ISFM) Co-Lead (2018 – current)
  • Program Officer, NASA Headquarters, Solar System Workings (6/2015-5/2018)

Awards


2023 Picarro Hero Award, People's Choice

2017 NASA Group Achievement Award MSL rover surface operations, first extended mission

2016 Robert H. Goddard Award for Exceptional Individual Achievement in Science for Discovery

of Nitrate on Mars

2015 Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering for Nitrogen on Mars

2015 NASA Group Achievement Award MSL prime mission science and operations team

2013 NASA Group Achievement Award outstanding achievement in science and operation of

the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission

2011 NASA Group Achievement Award Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Team

Special Experience


• Dragonfly Mission Team Member (2019-current)

• Payload Development Lead, Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (2019-current)

• Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission Team Member (2011-current)

• Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Team Member (2010-current)


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. "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]

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. "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. "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. "Depleted carbon isotope compositions observed at Gale crater, Mars.", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (4): e2115651119 [Full Text] [10.1073/pnas.2115651119] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Europan Molecular Indicators of Life Investigation (EMILI) for a Future Europa Lander Mission.", Frontiers in Space Technologies, 2 760927 [Full Text] [10.3389/frspt.2021.760927] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Organic molecules revealed in Mars’s Bagnold Dunes by Curiosity’s derivatization experiment .", Nature Astronomy, 6 129-140 [Full Text] [10.1038/s41550-021-01507-9] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Influence of Calcium Perchlorate on the Search for Organics on Mars with Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide Thermochemolysis.", Astrobiology, 21 (3): 279-297 [10.1089/ast.2020.2252] [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. "The Holy Grail: A road map for unlocking the climate record stored within Mars’ polar layered deposits.", Planetary and Space Science, 184 104841 [10.1016/j.pss.2020.104841] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Characterization of organic carbon in Cambrian stromatolites and implications for microbial biosignature preservation through secondary dolomitization.", Chemical Geology, [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]

2020. "Influence of perchlorate on the search for organics on Mars with TMAH thermochemolysis.", Talanta, [10.1016/j.talanta.2019.06.076] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Surface temperature trends recorded in thiophene from two impact craters: Chicxulub (Earth) and Gale (Mars).", Advances in Astronomy, [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Deciphering Biosignatures in Planetary Contexts.", Astrobiology, 19 (9): 1075-1102 [10.1089/ast.2018.1903] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Investigating the effects of gamma radiation on selected chemicals for use in biosignature detection instruments on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa.", Planetary and Space Science, 175 1-12 [Full Text] [10.1016/j.pss.2019.05.009] [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. "Major Volatiles Evolved From Eolian Materials in Gale Crater.", Geophysical Research Letters, [Full Text] [10.1029/2018gl079059] [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]

2017. "The nitrate/(per)chlorate relationship on Mars.", Geophysical Research Letters, [10.1002/2016gl072199] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "13C and 15N fractionation of CH4/N2 mixtures during photochemical aerosol formation: Relevance to Titan.", Icarus, 270 421-428 [doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.04.016] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Organic molecules in the Sheepbed Mudstone, Gale Crater, Mars.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 120 (3): 495-514 [Full Text] [10.1002/2014JE004737] [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]

2015. "Reevaluated martian atmospheric mixing ratios from the mass spectrometer on the Curiosity rover.", Planetary and Space Science, 109-110 154-158 [doi:10.1016/j.pss.2015.02.014] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Analytical Techniques for Retrieval of Atmospheric Composition with the Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer of the Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite on Mars Science Laboratory.", Planet. Space Sci., [10.1016/j.pss.2014.03.005] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Humic acid complexation of Th, Hf and Zr in ligand competition experiments: Metal loading and pH effects.", Chemical Geology, 363 241-249 [10.1016/j.chemgeo.2013.11.001] [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. "A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars.", Science, 343 (6169): 1242777-1242777 [10.1126/science.1242777] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars.", Science, 343 (6169): 1245267-1245267 [10.1126/science.1245267] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Volatile, Isotope, and Organic Analysis of Martian Fines with the Mars Curiosity Rover.", Science, 341 (6153): 1238937-1238937 [10.1126/science.1238937] [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. "Isotopes of Nitrogen on Mars: Atmospheric Measurements by Curiosity's Mass Spectrometer.", Geophys. Res. Lett., 40 6033-6037 [10.1002/2013GL057840] [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 Sample Analysis at Mars Investigation and Instrument Suite.", Space Sci Rev, 170 (1-4): 401-478 [10.1007/s11214-012-9879-z] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Understanding prebiotic chemistry through the analysis of extraterrestrial amino acids and nucleobases in meteorites.", Chemical Society Reviews, 41 5459-5472 [Full Text] [10.1039/C2CS35109A] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Carbonaceous meteorites contain a wide range of extraterrestrial nucleobases.", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108 (34): 13995-13998 [10.1073/pnas.1106493108] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Carbonaceous meteorites contain a wide range of extraterrestrial nucleobases.", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108 (34): 13995-13998 [Full Text] [10.1073/pnas.1106493108] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Isotopic evidence for the source and fate of phosphorus in Everglades wetland ecosystems.", Applied Geochemistry, 26 (5): 688-695 [10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.01.027] [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "A capillary electrophoresis-ICP-MS study of rare earth element complexation by humic acids.", Chemical Geology, 246 (3-4): 170-180 [10.1016/j.chemgeo.2007.09.008] [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "Distribution and turnover of carbon in natural and constructed wetlands in the Florida Everglades.", Applied Geochemistry, 22 (9): 1936-1948 [10.1016/j.apgeochem.2007.04.007] [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "Use of a biologically active cover to reduce landfill methane emissions and enhance methane oxidation.", Waste Management, 27 (9): 1248-1258 [10.1016/j.wasman.2006.07.018] [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2021. "Solar-System-Wide Significance of Mars Polar Science.", Bulletin of the AAS, 53 (4): [Full Text] [10.3847/25c2cfeb.4db95c67] [Other]