Undergraduate Science Projects

Description: Meteorite impacts create extreme pressure and temperature excursions in target rocks that can deform, melt, and even vaporize rocks. Under such conditions, minerals experience extreme behaviours, including brittle & ductile deformation, and also transformations to high-P and high-T polymorphs. In this project, you will use a combination of petrographic observations and scanning electron microscopy techniques to document mineral behaviour in impactites (shocked rocks and/or impact melt rocks and glasses) to better understand how minerals respond during the conditions of meteorite impact. The direction of the project and samples analyzed will be developed in concert with the interest and academic experience/background of the student.

Supervisors: Dr Aaron Cavosie, A/Prof Nick Timms

Description: Finding low latitude sources of accessible water ice on Mars is of great importance for future human exploration of the planet and in-situ resource utilisation, and for habitability. However, because of the pressures and temperatures, water ice is only stable on Mars at the surface at high latitudes. At low latitudes water ice is known to occur in some locations in the subsurface regolith – from recent meteorite impacts and unusual hydrogen concentrations – however once exposed to the atmosphere it immediately sublimes back to the gas phase. The role of shadows in reducing the temperature of the surface and promoting ice stability in deep impact craters near the equator, has not been investigated in detail. This project will aim to understand the origin and stability of observed water deposits, as well as identify further locations where water ice may be available at low latitudes where it is accessible near the surface. The student will utilise Mars global elevation maps and impact craters datasets, in conjunction with a shadow length model to chart the length of time that crater floors experience shadow across Mars. They will utilise a GIS to derive maps and will be supported to develop basic coding language, statistical analysis and mathematical modelling skills.

Supervisors: Dr Eriita Jones, Prof Katarina Miljkovic

Description: Evapotranspiration (ET) provides a measure of the total loss of water from the surface through the combined processes of evaporation (from soil or vegetation surfaces) and transpiration (from plants). High frequency, high resolution accurate monitoring of the evapotranspiration of Australian ecosystems is essential for knowledge of their water use over time and for sustainable management of water resources such as irrigation inputs and groundwater. A new model has been developed to provide daily 10 metre per pixel evapotranspiration products however it has not been validated over Western Australian environments. In the absence of field monitoring data, this project aims to understand the potential accuracy of this model by comparing it to other evapotranspiration products and any similar datasets with known error values. The student will implement a state-of-the-art satellite remote sensing model to derive evapotranspiration products from a range of sensors at different spatial and temporal resolutions over Western Australian ecosystems. The student will use GIS spatial datasets, and open-source evapotranspiration products such as CMRSET, IRRISAT, and NASA’s ECOSTRESS to compare to their given model. They will be supported in developing some statistical modelling, spatial analysis, basic coding skills.

Supervisors: Dr Eriita Jones, Joseph Awange, Dr Baden Myers

Description: Understanding magnetic fields generated by early Solar System bodies is key to
reconstructing planetary differentiation, core dynamics, and asteroid evolution. Recent work demonstrated that iron meteorites can reliably record magnetic fields, providing evidence of dynamo activity driven by inward core crystallization. Australia hosts a rich collection of well-preserved iron meteorites, yet few paleomagnetic studies have been conducted on them. These samples present a unique opportunity to investigate the thermal and magnetic histories of their parent asteroids and to improve models for core formation and differentiation of small bodies. Such studies will also support future asteroid exploration missions (e.g., Psyche) by providing ground-truth constraints on magnetic properties.

Supervisors: Dr Uwe Kirscher (Earth Dynamics Research Group), Dr. Lucy Forman, Ashley Rogers

Description: This project will address foundational questions including the physical and chemical conditions present in the early solar system during the onset of planetary formation. The exact scientific direction of the project will be defined by the supervisors, taking into account the strengths of the student, current knowledge gaps, and scientific progress made in this exciting field of research. This project will involve laboratory analysis of rare returned asteroid material via several state-of-the-art analytical facilities in the John de Laeter Centre, tailored to the scientific project goals. The student will learn new technical skills in analytical approaches and methods, including data processing and interpretation.

Supervisor: A/Prof Nick Timms, Prof Will Rickard, Prof Fred Jourdan, A/Prof David Saxey

Projects available:
-Predictive Metering for Dynamic Camera Sensitivity in Fireball Observation
-False Positive Mitigation in Drone-Based Meteorite Detection Through Multispectral Imaging
-Fireball Detection and Characterisation Using Light Curve Analysis
-Searching for Fireballs and Re-entries in WA Array seismic data
-Faint Satellite Detection with Synthetic Tracking
-Asteroid shape re-construction using radio occultation events
-Transient events classification to identify daytime fireballs
-Deconvolution algorithms to enhance data from wide-angle optical systems
Click the link below to find out more about each project.

Suited to: Students with a background in physics, computing, science or astronomy.

Supervisors: Dr Hadrien Devlliepoix, Dale Giancono or Iona Clemente