IOM News

Posted:  May 15, 2026 - 03:00pm

Several IOM students are graduating! We had the pleasure of celebrating them on Friday, May 15th, at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Convocation. 

Megan Hoffman is graduating with a PhD in the summer of 2026, and her dissertation is entitled “Reading the Martian Surface: Impact Crater Distributions and Geochemical Signatures in Gale Crater as Recorded by the Curiosity Rover Rate Mars.” 

Matthew Nellessen is graduating with a PhD in the summer of 2026, and his dissertation is entitled “Geochemical and Mineralogical Insights on Aqueous Alteration in a Martian Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment: Gale Crater Mars.”

William Czajkowski is graduating with a Bachelor of Science. William did research with Dr. Charles Shearer on a Martian shergottite during his undergrad and will be joining UNM (and IOM) as a Master’s student in the fall. William is also this year's recipient of the Horton Newsom Fellowship and the Stuart A. Northrop Award. 

First-year Master’s student with IOM, Lydia Hamilton, was this year's co-recipient of the Silver Graduate Student Service Award. 

We are so proud of the students who have graduated and of those who are remaining with IOM!