Hartzel Gillespie
Address:
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109Curriculum Vitae:
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Planetary And Exoplanetary AtmospheresBiography
Hartzel Gillespie was born and raised in the small town of Hurt in south central Virginia. He received his bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics in 2015 from Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA. He was introduced to his primary research interest, modeling and analysis of the Martian atmosphere by his graduate school advisor at The Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Steven Greybush. Under Dr. Greybush's tutelage, he studied transient eddies, dust storms, and water transport in the atmosphere of Mars, the last of which he investigated in conjuction with the Mars Climate Sounder team at JPL. He graduated with a Ph.D. in meteorology and atmospheric science in 2021. His first postdoc, extending from 2021 through 2023, was at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, where he combined near-surface observations made by the Perseverance rover with available observations over the rover made by MCS.
Education
Ph. D., Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, December 2021
B.S., Physics with Honors and Mathematics, Randolph College, VA, Spring 2015
Professional Experience
Lunar and Planetary Institute, 2021-2023: Connected vertical profiles of temperature observed by MEDA and MCS using the Finnish 1D SCM model The Pennsylvania State University (Graduate Student), 2015-2021: Synthesized the final EMARS dataset; investigated Mars's transient waves, dust storms, and water cycle using EMARS Randolph College (Undergraduate Student), 2013-2015: Recorded asteroidal occultations at least once per month in 2013 and 2014; successfully observed four predicted asteroidal occultations
Community Service
Two Mars atmosphere presentations to the Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society, 2023
Presentation on the Mars atmosphere to Japanese students visiting Houston, August 2022
Co-supervisor for the Donald Byrne Memorial Chess Club, 2016-2019
Telescope driver for star parties at Randolph College, 2011-2015
Research Interests
I improve modeled and observed datasets of the atmosphere of Mars, principally the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) and the Ensemble Mars Atmosphere Reanalysis System (EMARS). Prior research includes use of ensemble data assimilation to study Mars’s transient waves, dust storms, and water cycle, as well as asteroid occultation observation.
Selected Awards
University Graduate Fellow, Fall 2015 – Summer 2021
Randolph College Gottwald Scholar, Fall 2011 – Spring 2015
Student of the Year, Randolph College, Spring 2015
Mathematical Contest in Modeling Honorable Mention, Spring 2015
Tutor of the Year, Spring 2014
Eagle Scout, 2009
Selected Publications
Martinez, G. M., et al., Surface Energy Budget, Albedo and Thermal Inertia at Jezero Crater, Mars, as Observed from the Mars 2020 MEDA Instrument (JGR-Planets, January 2023)
McCleese, D., A. Kleinböhl, D. Kass, S. J. Greybush, H. E. Gillespie, and R. J. Wilson, Water Transport in the Mars Northern Polar Atmosphere: Observations and Simulations (JGR-Planets, In review)
Gillespie, H. E., S. J. Greybush, and R. J. Wilson, An Investigation of the Encirclement of Mars by Dust in the 2018 Global Dust Storm Using EMARS (JGR-Planets, April 2020) Greybush, S. J., E. Kalnay, R. J. Wilson, R. N. Hoffman, T. Nehrkorn, M. Leidner, J. Eluszkiewicz, H. E. Gillespie, M. Wespetal, Y. Zhao, M. Hoffman, P. Dudas, T. McConnochie, A. Kleinböhl, D. Kass, D. McCleese, T. Miyoshi, The Ensemble Mars Atmosphere Reanalysis System (EMARS) Version 1.0 (Geoscience Data Journal, August 2019)
Greybush, S. J., H. E. Gillespie, and R. J. Wilson, Transient Eddies in the TES/MCS Ensemble Mars Atmosphere Reanalysis System (Icarus, January 2019)