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Kenneth Marshall Seaton

Photo of Kenneth Seaton

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive

Pasadena, CA 91109

Curriculum Vitae:

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Member of:

Laboratory Studies

Biography

Working under NPP advisors Bryana Henderson and Morgan Cable, Marshall is interested in how hypervelocity impacts affect ionization, molecular degradation, and detectability in impact ionization mass spectra. He currently operates and is further optimizing the JPL Hypervelocity Ice grain Impact Validation Experiment (HIIVE) to simulate the hypervelocity impacts of ice grains during planetary flybys, and is interested in science that can inform future hypervelocity ice grain sampling efforts at Europa, Enceladus, and other icy worlds. In his free time, he enjoys kayaking, running, fishing, weightlifting, playing the guitar, and playing videogames.

Education

  • Ph.D., Analytical Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology (2022)
  • M.S., Chemistry, East Tennessee State University (2017)
  • B.S., Chemistry, East Tennessee State University (2014)

Professional Experience

  • Europa Clipper Affiliate – SUDA Investigation (2024-present)
  • NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow (2023-present)
  • Science Lead, NASA Planetary Science Summer School Program (2021)
  • Future Investigator in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) (2019-2022)
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory Summer Internship (2018)

Research Interests

  • Planetary science
  • Mass spectrometry
  • Hypervelocity sampling strategies
  • Biomarker detection strategies

Selected Awards

  • NASA Astrobiology Early Career Collaboration Award, for work developing hypervelocity sampling strategies (2018)
  • ETSU Distinguished Graduate Student Award, for excellence in teaching (2016)

Selected Publications

  1. Seaton, K. M., Waller, S. E., Miller, M. E. C., Cable, M. L., Henderson, B. L. (2024) Replicating hypervelocity ice grain sampling of ocean world exosphere and plume material using impact ionization mass spectrometry. (in preparation)
  2. Weber, J. W., Seaton, K. M., Rabinovitch, J., Cable, M. L., McCoy, K., Spilker, L. (2024) Modeling the Enceladus plume environment: A review of the current state of knowledge and implications for future missions. (in preparation)
  3. Pozarycki, C., Seaton, K. M., Nuñez, N., Crawford, E., Stockton, A. (2024). “Biosignature molecules accumulate and persist in evaporitic brines: implications for planetary exploration. (in review)
  4. Seaton, K. M., Pozarycki, C., Nuñez, N., Stockton, A. (2023). A robust capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF) method for quantitative compositional analysis of trace amino acids in hypersaline samples. ACS Earth Space Chem. 7(11), 2214-2221.
  5. Seaton, K. M., Gyalay, S., Stucky de Quay, G., Burnett, E., Denton, C., Doerr, B., Ebadi, K., Eckert, S., Flynn, I., Honniball, C., Hume, S., Kling, C., Marohnic, J., Milton, J., Mondro, C., Nuno, R., Rooney, C., Strauss, B., Nash, A., Scully, J. (2023). Astrobiology eXploration at Enceladus (AXE): A New Frontiers mission concept study. Planet. Sci. J. 4(116).
  6. Seaton, K. M., Cable, M., Stockton, A. (2022). Analytical chemistry throughout this solar system. Annu. Rev. Anal. Chem., 15, 197-219.
  7. Seaton, K. M., Cable, M., Stockton, A. (2021) Analytical chemistry in astrobiology. Anal. Chem., 93(15), 5981-5997. (invited feature)

Projects

Europa Clipper