My Job
I am the full-time librarian/archivist for the Space Photography Laboratory (SPL), a NASA Regional Planetary Image Facility at Arizona State University in Phoenix. My "official" title is data manager. I'm very interested in planetary science and am working to learn more as a student.
Likes and Dislikes About Job
The best thing about my job is working with researchers who use the SPL, providing them with images or data that they need, and perhaps learning a little about their projects as well. The worst part of my job is never having enough time to really work on big projects, such as creating a database of the library's holdings that would be accessible via the World Wide Web.
As a Kid
I loved looking at pictures of space and the planets. I used to build spacecraft with Legos and I read a good deal of science fiction. I used to write some of my own stories about what it would be like to be an astronaut.
Advice
My advise to students who are interested in getting into planetary science is to study a lot of math and science, but also to develop reading, writing and critical-thinking skills as well.
Influences
There have been so many influential people in my life: my parents, teachers and professors. In high school I had a great chemistry teacher, Mrs. Manlove, who really made chemistry exciting and easy to learn. At Arizona State University, Dr. Ron Greeley has encouraged me toward my goal of becoming a planetary geologist.
Personal
I live in Tempe, Arizona, near the university and I enjoy hiking, swimming, playing guitar and reading.