Dr. Emily Martin is a Research Geologist in the Museum's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies. Emily’s research interests are in planetary surface processes and tectonic deformation across our solar system, especially the icy bodies and ocean worlds of the outer solar system. Many of these moons had or have liquid water oceans under their brittle water-ice lithospheres making them prime targets for understanding the habitable potential of the outer solar system.
Developing a better understanding of how planetary surfaces deformed tells us about their histories and what they have experienced. Of particular interest to Emily is the evolution of subsurface oceans on Saturn's moon Enceladus and other icy satellites. She is also working on geologic mapping projects of Neptune’s moon Triton, and Saturn’s moon Dione. Much of Emily's work relies on images taken by the Voyager, Galileo, Cassini, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.
Emily holds her B.A. in physics from Wheaton College (MA) in 2006, where she first began exploring the icy satellites. She subsequently obtained her M.S. from Northwestern University in Earth and Planetary Science in 2009, and her PhD in Geological Sciences from the University of Idaho in 2014.
Emily is a co-host of the National Air and Space Museum’s AirSpace Podcast, and it’s produced by an awesome team. Check us out wherever you get your podcasts!