People & Publications

Dr. Poston is a planetary surface chemist. His areas of focus include 1) surface properties and habitability of Ocean Worlds; 2) present-day solar system volatiles, thermal and non-thermal processes, surface-bound exospheres, and atmospheric processes; 3) In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and power generation; and 4) flight instrumentation and mission formulation.

Dr. Protopapa’s research focuses on the compositional characterization of small bodies in the outer solar system (comets, trans-Neptunian objects), as well as the Moon. Her work folds together infrared spectral-imaging observations from spacecraft (New Horizons, Rosetta, Deep Impact) and ground-based instruments (VLT, Keck, and IRTF), laboratory measurements and theoretical radiative transfer models. Dr. Protopapa has an active involvement in several mission teams. She is Co-I on the ESA Comet Interceptor Mission and the NASA New Horizons Mission.

Within CLASSE, Dr. Protopapa analyzes and model LAMP phase curves across the surface of the Moon and work in photometric modeling of laboratory phase curves of Apollo soils in dry and water-infused states. She also contributes to NFDAP projects investigating the origin of Charon’s red polar albedo.

Dr. Stevanovic is a director of the Kleberg Advanced Microscopy Center, a shared-core user facility at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Her expertise involves in-situ TEM/SEM characterization of materials under externally applied stimuli: heat, gas, and liquid. Her research focuses on bridging the "pressure gap" in electron microscopy: from high-vacuum to dynamic in-situ imaging of real-time structural and chemical changes in materials.

Within CLASSE, Dr. Stevanovic collaborates on nanoscale imaging and chemical characterization of planetary analogs and extraterrestrial samples by employing Focused Ion Beam, aberration-corrected Transmission Electron Microscopy, Raman Microscopy, and X-Ray Diffraction.

Caleb Gimar is currently a graduate student in the joint UTSA-SwRI Space Physics program. His research contributions within CLASSE focus on far-ultraviolet reflectance studies of lunar simulants and soils and the optical properties of radiation-processed methane relevant to Charon.

Mr. Brandon Perez is a mechanical engineer at SwRI that contributes to CLASSE projects with hardware design and assembly of ultra-high vacuum components.

Mr. Renzetti is a mechanical engineer aiding in the design and implementation of laboratory hardware and subsystems such as sample holders and drive and motion control mechanisms.

Mr. Tew works on building, implementing, and maintaining lab equipment, instrumentation, and vacuum systems.