Service & Involvement

Speaking at MIT Commencement, 2012

Affiliations

Alex is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University. Prior to joining Brown, Alex worked as a postdoctoral research associate with Professor Jeffrey C. Andrews-Hanna at the University of Arizona – Lunar & Planetary Laboratory (LPL) (transferred from Southwest Research Institute and Colorado School of Mines) investigating the surface and interior of planetary bodies using data from planetary missions, such as GRAIL and LRO.  He also held a Postdoctoral Research Scientist position at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), a research unit of Columbia University, where he worked with Director Sean Solomon on investigating interiors and surfaces of Mercury and the Moon on the MESSENGER, GRAIL, and LRO missions. Prior to joining LDEO, Alex was a postdoctoral research associate and graduate student in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) working with Professor Maria T. Zuber on the GRAIL & LRO missions. In 2013, he completed his Ph.D. in Planetary Geophysics and Geodynamics at MIT  under the direction of Professor Maria T. Zuber. Alex’s thesis research covered investigations of Martian crustal evolution, lava-flooded craters on the Moon, and the influence of water in the early thermal history of the Moon using data from past and current NASA missions.