https://www.joelmdavis.net/news daily 0.75 2020-05-07 https://www.joelmdavis.net/news/get-out-there-xjmyr monthly 0.5 2020-02-20 https://www.joelmdavis.net/news/why-deserts-matter-too-j2wwr monthly 0.5 2019-08-21 https://www.joelmdavis.net/news/new-hope-in-old-appalachia-r8gbz monthly 0.5 2019-08-21 https://www.joelmdavis.net/home daily 1.0 2025-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e9c6aeafa3cdc28c0300c8e/ac2c6e28-ef41-43bf-920e-95d86cf396a4/PXL_20220122_140623593.jpg Home - About me I am a planetary geologist, specialising in the evolution of planetary surfaces. My major focus is Mars and my main research questions are: (1) What was the nature of the ancient climate on Mars and how did it change? (2) What is the geological & paleoclimate context for life detection? The surface of Mars is the best opportunity to detect evidence for life elsewhere in the solar system, but major unknowns remain about its palaeoclimate. The geological record of Mars is the foremost, accessible means of investigating the ancient climate. More generally, the surface of Mars is a natural planetary laboratory investigating for early solar system geological processes and global environmental change. My approach uses remote sending data, from both orbital and landed spacecraft, and terrestrial analogue environments. I am part of the science teams for four space missions to Mars: the HiRISE instrument onboard the NASA MRO orbiter, NASA MSL Curiosity rover, the CaSSIS instrument onboard the ESA TGO orbiter, and the PanCam instrument onboard the ESA ExoMars rover. https://www.joelmdavis.net/research daily 0.75 2025-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e9c6aeafa3cdc28c0300c8e/1587560110817-DYHADZ6K96JQHKTDRS1L/Aram%2Blabel.jpg Research - Ancient Surface Processes on Mars We know that there was liquid water on Mars billions of years ago, forming rivers, lakes, and possibly even oceans, but how long did this “wet” period(s) last for? My work uses a combination of high-resolution orbital images and analogue environments on Earth to investigate ancient rivers and lakes on the surface of Mars. In particular, I am interested in exhumed river deposits which form ridges in the landscape (inverted channels). The CTX image to the left shows a 100 km exhumed channel-belt deposit in the Arabia Terra region of Mars. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e9c6aeafa3cdc28c0300c8e/55664cbb-afce-44d5-98af-35959e7fa673/curiosity-rover-PIA16937a.jpg Research - Exploration of Gale Crater with Curiosity Gale crater is one of the best locations on Mars to explore the presence of water on early Mars, how it changed over time, and the implications for the ancient climate. Since 2022, I have been a Participating Scientist on NASA’s Curiosity rover, which recently celebrated its tenth year exploring Gale. I am interested in using the rover’s instruments to explore Gale’s rich record of surface processes and what they tell us more widely about Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e9c6aeafa3cdc28c0300c8e/1587561062768-GVO676G0PYW629MKKOC8/McLaughlin_CTX_gif_credit.gif Research - Aeolian Processes on Mars Like on Earth, sand is being transported today across the surface of Mars. However, unlike on Earth, sand dunes are dark and most move at rates comparable to those in Antarctica. My work uses repeat images, from orbital datasets such as CTX and HiRISE, to monitor how certain dunes move across Mars. The animation to the left shows barchan dunes in McLaughlin crater advancing south at ~ 1 m/year. https://www.joelmdavis.net/what-we-do daily 0.75 2020-04-19 https://www.joelmdavis.net/contact daily 0.75 2020-04-19 https://www.joelmdavis.net/partners daily 0.75 2020-04-19 https://www.joelmdavis.net/read-me daily 0.75 2020-04-19 https://www.joelmdavis.net/pagecv daily 0.75 2025-11-28 https://www.joelmdavis.net/583544494043 daily 0.75 2025-07-16 https://www.joelmdavis.net/outreach daily 0.75 2021-01-24 https://www.joelmdavis.net/take-action daily 0.75 2025-05-12