NASA Postdoctoral Program - Tectonics and Evolution of the Terrestrial Planets

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA's missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology. This specific research opportunity focuses on Earth-like planets, including exoplanets, to understand planetary evolution and habitability by examining the links between interior, surface, and atmospheric evolution. Research topics include modeling of factors that influence heat flow, interior thermal evolution and the role of mantle plumes, tectonic processes, and surface processes that provide constraints on the history of resurfacing on Venus. The fellowship is based at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, under the advisement of Sue Smrekar in the field of Planetary Science.