Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research, while enhancing transferable skills. Students were challenged to describe their research, scholarship or creative activity in 150 or fewer words to share with our community.

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Journey to Mars: Rosalind Franklin Rover's Quest for Life

The Rosalind Franklin rover will go to Mars in 2028 to look for life. Oxia Planum is a safe, flat region, selected as its landing place. Why Oxia Planum? Because it has lots of clay minerals and some of the oldest rocks on Mars along with landforms we think formed by rivers. Clays are known to support life and tell about the past environment. The rover will use PanCam as its eyes, allowing it to identify different types of clays. Martian clays can reveal the story of Mars; if it ever had oceans and is there any water left. In my work, I will use satellite data from various missions to map Oxia Planum and understand its geology. I will make tools to help the rover work there. My work will help the rover decide where it would be best to go, look for life, and do amazing science.

Ananya Srivastava
PhD candidate, Geology (Planetary Science and Exploration)
Faculty of Science - Western University

Supervisor
Gordon Osinski (https://www.uwo.ca/earth/people/faculty/osinski.html)

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Ananya Srivastava (she/her) is a passionate planetary geologist dedicated to exploring surface processes on Mars using remote sensing techniques. Her PhD research is pivotal to the upcoming ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission, set to launch in 2028 by the European Space Agency. This mission aims to understand Mars' climatic history and potential for supporting life. Ananya's work involves leveraging remote sensing data to study the geology of rover's landing site. She contributes to the mission by identifying key targets for the rover's investigation and developing a comprehensive model of the region's geological history. In addition to her scientific pursuits, Ananya plays a significant role in advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) within the space science community. As the EDIA Lead of NASA's NextGen network and Vice President of both the Graduate Geoscience Society and the Western Space Graduate Student Council, she champions inclusivity and support for women in STEM. Ananya also engages in science communication through social media and is the founder and president of the Planetary Science Club in India, fostering a community passionate about space exploration and scientific discovery. Her involvement in NASA's Artemis III mission and the Canadian Space Agency's Lunar Rover mission underscores her commitment to advancing human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

You can connect with Ananya on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/whereisananya/; X https://x.com/whereisananya; Instagram https://www.instagram.com/whereisananya/; or on the web at https://sites.google.com/view/whereisananya/home.

View Ananya's work as it appears in the Inspiring Minds Digital Collection: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/inspiringminds/612/.

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