EPEC Profiles – Nicole Costa
In this series from the EPEC Communication Working Group, we meet members of the Europlanet Early Career (EPEC) community and find out more about their experiences and aspirations.
Nicole Costa is a PhD student in Geoscience at the University of Padova, Italy.
Currently, I am a second year PhD student in Geoscience at the University of Padova. In 2022, I had a fellowship with the Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS-INAF) in Roma as a member of the Ma_MISS team of the ESA ExoMars2022 mission.
I took a Master’s degree (M.Sc.) in Geology and Technical Geology at the University of Padova in 2021 and a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Sciences at the University of Padova in 2019. My current PhD project is focused on understanding the composition and the stratigraphy of the upper part of the Martian North Polar Layered Deposits through the combination of hyperspectral (e.g. CRISM) and radar (e.g. SHARAD) data. The project is integrated with a laboratory analysis: development of set-up for hyperspectral acquisition at low temperatures and creation of icy slabs with Martian Simulants to analyse and compare with Martian spectral data (e.g. CRISM).
During the IAPS fellowship, I was involved in the laboratory spectra acquisition with optical fibres spectrometer prototypes in order to test them for space applications in landers or rovers. I also investigated the different relationships between geological units of the rover landing site, Oxia Planum, through geological maps and sections.
“This is the first time that I’ve worked in an EPEC team. Every year, I’ve attend the EPEC Annual Week and last year I participated in the Europlanet Research Infrastructure Meeting (ERIM). In 2021, I participated at the EPSC, online version. I’m really looking forward to hosting EPEC Annual Week in Padova!”
NICOLE COSTA
More information about Nicole Costa:
Contact: nicole.costa@studenti.unipd.it
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