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Dr. Carolyn A. Crow

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Assistant Professor

Department of Geological Sciences
University of Colorado Boulder

The samples returned by the Apollo missions continue to revolutionize not only our understanding of our Moon, but also provide valuable insights into the nature and evolution of our solar system. In the next decade, multiple missions will return samples from asteroids, the Moon, and Mars. Analyses of these materials will lead to new ground breaking discoveries about our closest planetary neighbors and are bound to once again revolutionize how we think about our place in the solar system.

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I am an assistant professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. My research focuses on understanding the evolution of planetary crusts through geochemical analyses of samples. I have worked with samples ranging from lunar rocks returned by Apollo astronauts, Martian meteorites, and samples from the terrestrial impact structures. 

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Apollo Samples

I have multiple ongoing research projects involving Apollo samples. In particular, I am interested in understanding the nature of early lunar magmas, the chronology of impact bombardment, and the record of regolith processes that influence the lunar crust.

Terrestrial Impacts

Impact cratering is a fundamental process on all planetary bodies in our solar system. Terrestrial impacts provide an analog with which we can study the cratering process and the ways that these extreme environments influence sample chemistry and chronology.

Noble Gases

We are building NASA, NSF, and
Heising Simons funded laboratory that will specialize in noble gas geochronology, geochemistry, and cosmogenic nuclides.

Stay tuned for more!

Xenon systematics of individual lunar zircons, a new window on the history of the lunar surface

Crow C. A., Crowther S. A., McKeegan K. D., Turner G., Busemann H., and Gilmour J. D.

Geochimica et. Cosmochimica Acta (2017)

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Teaching & Outreach

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Ad Astra Academy

Ad Astra Academy is a unique education, outreach, and development project that brings the excitement of exploration to students in some of the most underserved regions of the world. As Program Director I am responsible for developing curricula that engages students through inquiry-based learning.

Dr. Carolyn A. Crow
Assistant Professor
Department of Geological Sciences ~ University of Colorado Boulder

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*Image Credit: NASA, AMNH, Ad Astra Academy, Dirk Wiersma/Science Photo Library

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