Dr. Isaac Smith

I am a part timesenior scientist at PSI and an associate professor at York University in Toronto, Ontario, where I have tenure and hold a Canada Research Chair Tier II. I serve as a Co-Investigator for SHARAD on Mars Reconnaissnace Orbiter. My research focuses on sedimentary systems on Mars, especially related to the polar layered deposits, or ice caps. We study those layers in order to gain knowledge about the past climate of Mars. Primarily I use data from the shallow radar (SHARAD) instrument in Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to look for reflections beneath the surface of Mars. These reflections tell us about the geophysical makeup of the deposits and the geometry in which they were deposited. In my lab at York University, I have developed a Mars Environmental Chamber that simulates conditions at the south pole of Mars. My group also does field work in Yukon, Canada, and we model glaciers on Earth, Mars, and Pluto