Hello! I am Amanda Steckel and I am a Geology PhD student at CU Boulder. I work at LASP in Professor Brian Hynek’s group. My passion is space exploration and bridging the gap between science and engineering. Previously, I have spent several months working in Antarctica using Lidars to study how the different layers of the atmosphere interact with space. I’m excited to shift focus from looking up to looking at the ground on this trip. We are evaluating Ojos as an analogue for Mars and Europa. I’m particularly interested in the high UV environment at this extreme altitude and am bringing a variety of light and UV sensors to take some measurements. I’m interested to see how life might have evolved around geologic features in the area, such as penitentes, to use as shields from UV, since this may be important to how life could form on other planets. Prior to starting at CU, I worked for seven years as an engineer building satellites. I am excited to take my lab skills out of the clean room and onto a volcano!