Disciplines: 

lithosphere

Mentor (JPL): 

Simon Hook (321H), simon.j.hook@jpl.nasa.gov

Mentor (UCLA): 

Gilles Peltzer (EPSS), peltzer@epss.ucla.edu

Project Description:

This project explores the use of multispectral and hyperspectral thermal infrared data to detect and monitor critical energy resources, including mineral deposits and geothermal anomalies. The intern will work with data from HyTES (Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer) and ECOSTRESS to map spectral signatures of silicate minerals and geothermal anomalies . The work sits at the intersection of geological remote sensing and applied Earth observation, with relevance to energy resource monitoring and the environmental assessment of extraction sites. The intern will gain hands-on experience in thermal data processing, spectral unmixing, and geospatial analysis.

Preferred Background:

Geology, Earth systems science, computer science, data science

References: 

Rabuffi, F., Hulley, G., Hook, S. J., Cawse-Nicholson, K., Ramsey, M. S., Thompson, J. O., ... & La, T. T. (2025). Surface Mineralogy using Thermal InfraRed Spectroscopy Data from ECOSTRESS and ASTER. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

Student Requirements: 

Minimum cumulative 3.00 GPA

Work Location: 

JPL/UCLA

Disciplines: 

biosphere

Mentor (JPL): 

Junjie Liu (321/biosphere group), junjie.liu@jpl.nasa.gov

Mentor (UCLA): 

TBD

Project Description:

This project will quantify fire-related carbon emissions constrained by CO observations spanning more than two decades and investigate the drivers of emission variability across major biomes.

Preferred Background:

Earth systems science, ecology, wildfires, data science

References: 

Byrne, B., Liu, J., Bowman, K. W., Pascolini-Campbell, M., Chatterjee, A., Pandey, S., ... & Sinha, S. (2024). Carbon emissions from the 2023 Canadian wildfires. Nature, 633(8031), 835-839.  and Virkkala, A. M., Rogers, B. M., Watts, J. D., Arndt, K. A., Potter, S., Wargowsky, I., ... & Natali, S. M. (2025). Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptake. Nature Climate Change, 15(2), 188-195.

Student Requirements: 

Minimum cumulative 3.00 GPA

Work Location: 

JPL/UCLA

Disciplines: 

hydrosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, biosphere

Mentor (JPL): 

Eren Bilir (321E), teresa.e.bilir@jpl.nasa.gov

Mentor (UCLA): 

TBD

Project Description:

Update geological heating routines in CARDAMOM for more accurate high latitude energy balance. This would involve implementing spatially varying geological heating constraints from existing datasets, but could have room for model process development in a range of related modules (heat transfer physics, cryosphere representation, surface energy balance) if there's interest.

Preferred Background:

Data assimilation, computer science, terrestrial-atmosphere-ocean interactions, Earth systems science, math, statistics 

References: 

Worden, M. A., Bilir, T. E., Bloom, A. A., Fang, J., Klinek, L. P., Konings, A. G., ... & Zhu, S. (2025). Combining Observations and Models: A Review of the CARDAMOM Framework for Data‐Constrained Terrestrial Ecosystem Modeling. Global Change Biology, 31(8), e70462.

Student Requirements: 

Minimum cumulative 3.00 GPA

Work Location: 

JPL/UCLA