Jake Widmer joined the GALE Lab in 2021 and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Geology. His research focuses on interactions between aeolian and polar processes in shaping planetary surfaces. Jake studies how wind and ice interact in the midlatitudes of Mars to influence the volatile cycle at the margins of seasonal frost deposition, using orbital remote-sensing data to identify and quantify active surface changes. He draws on field experience to anchor interpretations on Mars in well-known terrestrial geology.

Before joining the GALE Lab, Jake earned a B.S. in Geology from the University of Maryland (2019) and gained research experience through internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Smithsonian’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, investigating surface processes on Mars and Europa.

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Alana Archbold is a Ph.D. student studying Earth surface processes and aeolian dune systems. Her research integrates field observations, computational modeling, and remote sensing to understand how dune fields evolve through time and how their internal architectures are preserved in the geologic record. Alana is developing a model that incorporates realistic modern and ancient dune processes, with the goal of estimating dune-field ages and building a stratigraphic framework grounded in real-world measurements.

Her experience includes fieldwork on modern dunes in Death Valley and Jurassic sandstones of the Colorado Plateau. She has also led wind-tunnel experiments investigating abrasion and landforms on Mars. Alana earned her B.S. in Geology with honors from UCLA in 2022 before joining the GALE Lab to specialize in sedimentary and aeolian geology.

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Sarah Preston is a Ph.D. student in the GALE Lab investigating aeolian sediment transport, bedform formation, and aeolian mixing. She studies unusual aeolian bedforms composed of highly vesicular basaltic sand. With field measurements, drone surveys, and petrographic analysis, Sarah ties process to bedform evolution in this Mars analog landscape. In parallel, she studied sediment mixing across dune fields in the Basin and Range Province, using detrital zircon geochronology to quantify sediment provenance and evaluate how wind transfers material between adjacent basins.

Sarah joined the GALE Lab in 2023 after earning her B.S. in Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences with a minor in Environmental Studies from Rice University. As an undergraduate, she worked with Dr. Kirsten Siebach to study the Stimson Formation, an aeolian sandstone in Gale crater, Mars, investigating grain-size distributions to infer sediment provenance and past atmospheric conditions.

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BreeAnn (“Annie”) Getman is a Ph.D. student in the GALE Lab investigating how microbial life interacts with aeolian processes. Her research integrates microbiology and sedimentary geology to understand how microbial activity within dunes varies with dune architecture, sediment transport, and dune evolution. She conducts fieldwork at the Mesquite Flat dune field in Death Valley, using it as a natural laboratory to study how microorganisms influence, and are influenced by, wind-driven sediment dynamics.

In parallel, Annie applies machine learning to model dune systems on other worlds. By combining synthetic aperture radar and optical satellite data from Earth with radar imagery from NASA’s Cassini and Magellan missions, she generates realistic visualizations of Titan and Venusian dune fields hidden beneath dense atmospheres. Annie earned her B.S. in Geology from UCLA in 2023 before joining the GALE Lab to pursue interdisciplinary research at the intersection of geomorphology, microbiology, and planetary science.