Alicia Vaughan
Alicia is a Payload Science Lead on Mastcam-Z. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Arkansas, and a Master of Science degree in Geology from the University of Nevada, Reno. In graduate school she studied terrestrial banded iron-formation as an analog for Mars. She worked on the Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) in several operational roles including uplink and downlink for the Mini-TES and Microscopic Imager instrument teams, and as a Systems Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. She studied the dust activity on the MER mission, tracking cleaning events with changes in power as well the movement and spectral properties of dust. She moved to Flagstaff, AZ to work at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center, and then left to pursue her interest in teaching. She helped open a new public charter school where she taught Earth science and robotics for several years. She returned to the USGS, excited to get back to Mars on the Mastcam-Z team, and has since begun working for the Space Science Institute. While not working, Alicia spends time with her family, walks her dogs, loves hiking and camping in the beautiful southwest, and reading.