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William Abbey

Photo of William Abbey

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S 183-301

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

818.393.2749

Fax:

818.393.4445

Curriculum Vitae:

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Member of:

Planetary Geosciences

Education

  • B.S. Geology, George Washington University (1992)
  • M.S. Geology, George Washington University (1997)

Professional Experience

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2001 - Present)
    • Mars 2020, SHERLOC Science Team (2018-Present)
    • Mars Science Laboratory, Surface Sampling System Scientist (2014-Present)
    • Technologist, Planetary Science Section (2001-Present)
  • California Institute of Technology, Research Assistant (2000-2001)
  • University of California, Los Angeles, Teaching Assistant (1998-1999)
  • George Washington University, Laboratory Technician (1998)
  • University of Arizona, Independent Geologic Consultant (1997)
  • George Washington University Teaching Assistant (1993-1997)

Selected Awards

  • NASA Bonus Award - 2020 SHERLOC Operations Team, Team Bonus Award, 2023
  • NASA Bonus Award - 2020 SHERLOC SOX Operations, Team Bonus Award, 2021
  • NASA Bonus Award - 2020 Mars Time Instrument Operations, Team Bonus Award, 2021
  • NASA Bonus Award - MSL Surface Sampling Science Team, Team Bonus Award, 2021
  • NASA Honors Award - MSL Surface Sampling System Development Team, Group Achievement 2020
  • NASA Honors Award - MSL FED/FEST Team, Group Achievement 2019
  • NASA Honors Award - Non-Percussive Drilling Development Team, Group Achievement 2017
  • NASA Bonus Award - PSTAR WATSON, Team Bonus Award 2017
  • NASA Honors Award - MSL Extended Mission-1 Science & Operations Team, Group Achievement 2017
  • NASA Bonus Award - MSL Surface Sampling Science Team, Team Bonus Award 2015
  • NASA Group Achievement Award - MSL Prime Mission and Operations Team, 2015
  • NASA Group Achievement Award - MSL Project Operations Team, 2013.
  • NASA Group Achievement Award - MSL Science Office Development and Operations Team, 2013
  • NASA Bonus Award - In Situ Sample Processing Team, Team Bonus Award 2005

Selected Publications

  1. Wogsland, B., Minitti, M., Kah, L., Yingst, R., Abbey, W., Bhartia, R., Beegle, L., et al., Science and Science-Enabling Activities of the SHERLOC and WATSON Imaging Systems in Jezero Crater, Mars, submitted to Earth and Space Science, 2023.
  2. Sharma, S., Roppel, R., Murphy, A., Beegle, B., Bhartia, R., Steele, A… Abbey, W., et al., Diverse organic-mineral associations in Jezero crater, Mars, accepted in Nature, 2023.
  3. Corpolongo, A., Jakubek, R.S., Burton, A.S., Brown, A.J., Yanchilina, A., Czaja, A.D… Abbey, W., SHERLOC Raman mineral detections of the Mars 2020 Crater Floor Campaign, Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets 128 (3), 2023.
  4. Scheller, E.L., Razzell Hollis, J., Cardarelli, E.L., Steele, A., Beegle, L.W., Bhartia, R... Abbey, W., et al., Aqueous alteration processes and implications for organic geochemistry in Jezero crater, Mars, Science 378 (6624), 2022.
  5. Razzell-Hollis, J., Sharma, S., Abbey, W., Bhartia, R., Fries, M., Beegle, L., Fries, M., Hein, J., Monacelli, B., Nordman, A.D., A Deep-Ultraviolet Raman and Fluorescence Spectral Library of 51 Organic Compounds for the SHERLOC instrument onboard Mars 2020, Astrobiology 23 (1), 2022.
  6. Fries, M.D., Lee, C., Bhartia, R., Razzell Hollis, J., Beegle, L.W., Uckert, K., Graff, T.G., Abbey, W., et al., The SHERLOC Calibration Target on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover: Design, Operations, Outreach, and Future Crewed Exploration Functions, Space Science Reviews 218 (46), 2022.
  7. Razzell Hollis, J., Moore, K.R., Sharma, S., Beegle, L., Grotzinger, J., Abbey, W., Allwood, A., et al., The power of paired proximity science observations: Co-located data from SHERLOC and PIXL on Mars, Icarus 387, 115179, 2022.
  8. Razzell-Hollis, J., Abbey, W., Beegle, L., Bhartia, R., Ehlmann, B., Miura, J., Monacelli, B., Moore, K., Nordman, A., Scheller, E., Wu, Y-H., A Deep-Ultraviolet Raman and Fluorescence Spectral Library of 62 Minerals for the SHERLOC instrument onboard Mars 2020, Planetary and Space Science 209, 105356, 2021.
  9. Holm-Alwmark, S., Kinch, K.M, Hansen, M.D., Shahrzad, S., Svennevig, K., Abbey, W.J., Anderson, R.B., et al., Stratigraphic relationships in Jezero Crater, Mars – Constraints on the timing of fluvial-lacustrine activity, Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets 126 (7), 2021.
  10. Fox, V.K., Kupper, R., Ehlmann, L.B., Catalano, J.G., Razzell-Hollis, J., Abbey, W.J., Schild, D.J., Nickerson, R.D., Peters, J., Katz, S.M., White, A.A., Synthesis and characterization of Fe (III)-Fe (II)-Mg-Al smectite solid solutions and implications for planetary science, American Mineralogist 106 (6), 964-982, 2021.
  11. Bhartia, R., Beegle, L.W., DeFlores, L., Abbey, W., Razzell-Hollis, J., Uckert, K., Monacelli, B., et al., Perseverance’s Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) Investigation, Space Science Review, 217 (58), 2021.
  12. Stack, K.M., Williams, N.R., Calef, F., Sun, V., Williford, K.H., Farley, K.A... Abbey, W., et al., Photo-geologic Map by the Perseverance Rover Field Site in Jezero Crater Constructed by the Mars 2020 Science Team, Space Science Review 216 (8), 1-47, 2020.
  13. Uckert, K., Parness, A., Chanover, N., Eshelman, E., Abcouwer, N., Nash, J... Abbey, W., et al., Investigating habitability with an integrated rock-climbing robot and astrobiology instrument suite, Astrobiology 20 (12), 2020.
  14. Razzell-Hollis, J., Ireland, S., Abbey, W., Bhartia, R., Beegle, L., Deep-Ultraviolet Raman Spectra of Mars-Relevant Evaporite Minerals under 248.6 nm Excitation, Icarus 351, 2020.
  15. Abbey, W., Anderson, R., Beegle, L., Peters, G., Morookian, J.M., Collins, C., Feldman, J., et al., A Look Back II: The Drilling Campaign of the Curiosity Rover during the Mars Science Laboratory's Second and Third Martian Years, Icarus 350, 2020.
  16. Malaska, M.J., Bhartia, R., Manatt, K.S., Priscu, J.C., Abbey, W.J., Mellerowicz, B., Palmowski, J., Zacny, K., Eshelman, E.J., D’Andrilli, J., Subsurface In-Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet, Astrobiology 20 (10), 1185-1211, 2020.
  17. Carrier, B., Abbey, W.J., Beegle, L.W., Bhartia, R., Liu, Y., Attenuation of Ultraviolet Radiation in Rocks & Minerals: Implications for Mars Science, Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets 124 (10), 2599-2612, 2019.
  18. Eshelman, E., Malaska, M., Manatt, K., Doloboff, I., Wanger, G., Willis, M., Abbey, W., Beegle, L., Priscu, J., Bhartia, R., WATSON: In situ organic detection in subsurface ice using deep-UV fluorescence spectroscopy, Astrobiology 19 (6), 771-784, 2019.
  19. Abbey, W., Anderson, R.C., Beegle, L., Horowitz, J., Williford, K., Peters, G., Morookian, J.M., et al., A Look Back: The Drilling Campaign of the Curiosity Rover during the Mars Science Laboratory's Prime Mission, Icarus 319, 1-13, 2019.
  20. Peters, G.H., Carey, E.M., Anderson, R.C., Abbey, W.J., Kinnet, R., Watkins, J.A., Schemel, M., et al., Uniaxial compressive strengths of rocks drilled at Gale Crater, Mars, Geophysical Research Letters 45, 108-116, 2018.
  21. Flannery, D., Allwood, A.C., Summons, R.E., Williford, K.E., Abbey, W., Matys, E.D., Ferralis, N., Spatially-resolved isotopic study of carbon trapped in ~3.43 Ga Strelly Pool Formation Stromatolites, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 223, 21-35, 2017.
  22. Abbey, W. J., Bhartia, R., Beegle, L., DeFlores, L., Paez, V., Sijapati, K., Sijapati, S., Williford, K., Tuite, M., Hug, W., Reid, R., Deep UV Raman Spectroscopy for Planetary Exploration: The Search for In Situ Organics, Icarus 290, 201-214, 2017.
  23. Beegle, L.C., Bhartia, R., White, M., DeFlores, L., Abbey, W., Wu, J., et al. SHERLOC: Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals, paper presented at IEEE Aerospace Conference, 1-11, 2015.
  24. Anderson, R.C., Beegle, L.C., Hurowitz, J., Hanson, C., Abbey, W., Sybold, C., et al. The Mars Science Laboratory Scooping Campaign at Rocknest: A Comparison Between Pre-Launch Terrestrial Testing and Mars, Icarus 256, 66-77, 2015.
  25. Douglas, S., Perry, M.E., Abbey, W.J., Tanaka, Z., Chen, B., McKay, C.P., The structure and chemical layering of Proterozoic stromatolites in the Mojave Desert, International Journal of Astrobiology 14 (03), 517-526, 2015.
  26. Pitman, K.M., Noe Dobrea, E.Z., Jamieson, C.S., Dalton, J.B., Abbey, W.J., Joseph, E.C.S., What lurks in the martian rocks and soil? Investigations of sulfates, phosphates, and perchlorates. Reflectance spectroscopy and optical functions for hydrated Fe-sulfates, American Mineralogist 99 (8-9), 1593-1603, 2014.
  27. Noell, A.C., Abbey, W.J., Anderson, R.C., Ponce, A., Radiocarbon Dating of Glacial Dust Layers and Soils at Kilimanjaro's Northern Ice Field, The Holocene 24 (10), 1398-1405, 2014.
  28. Wagstaff, K.L, Thompson, D.R., Abbey, W., Allwood, A., Bekker, D., Cabrol, N.A., Fuchs, T., Smart, texture-sensitive instrument classification for in situ rock and layer analysis, Geophysical Research Letters 40, 1-6, 2013.
  29. Abbey, W., Salas, E., Bhartia, R., Beegle, L.W., The Mojave Vadose Zone: A Subsurface Biosphere Analog for Mars, Astrobiology 13 (7), 637-646, 2013.
  30. Peters, G.H., Abbey, W., Bearman, G.H., Mungas, G.S., Smith, J.A., Anderson, R.C., Douglas, S., and Beegle, L.W., Mojave Mars simulant - Characterization of a new geologic Mars analog, Icarus 197, 470-479, 2008.
  31. Bhartia, R., Hug, W.F., Salas, E.C., Reid, R.D., Sijapati, K.K., Tsapin, A., Abbey, W., Conrad, P.G., Nealson, K.H., and Lane, A.L., Classification of Organic and Biological Materials with Deep UV Excitation, Applied Spectroscopy 62 (10), 46-53, 2008.
  32. Douglas, S., Abbey, W., Mielke, R., and Conrad, P. and Kanik, I., Textural and mineralogical biosignatures in an unusual microbialite from Death Valley, California, Icarus 193, 620-636, 2008.