Stanford University
Showing 1-10 of 20 Results
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Amir Eskanlou
Postdoctoral Scholar, Earth and Planetary Sciences
BioAmir is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford Mineral-X. With 15 years of research and industry experience, his background includes the development and optimization of mineral processing flowsheets for copper, phosphate, graphite and rare earth elements (REEs) from primary and secondary resources. At Stanford, he conducts research related to various aspects of critical minerals processing, including AI-driven reagent discovery, uncertainty quantification, circuit design, and optimization of energy and water consumption.
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Tianyang Guo (郭天阳)
Postdoctoral Scholar, Geological Sciences
BioDr. Tianyang Guo earned his Ph.D. degree in Rock Mechanics from the Department of Earth Sciences, the University of Hong Kong in 2020. He earned his bachelor's and master’s degree from Wuhan University (WHU) in 2013 and 2016, respectively. He was awarded the National Scholarship for Graduate in 2015 and graduated from WHU as an outstanding graduate. Before joining Stanford, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) under PolyU Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme 2021.
His research interests include (1) Cracking mechanisms and induced microseismicity during the injection of CO2 into reservoir rocks. (2) Application of machine learning in acoustic emission (AE) data interpretation. (3) Microcracking mechanisms of granite based on AE and microscopic observation. -
Michelle Hill
Postdoctoral Scholar, Earth and Planetary Sciences
BioMichelle's work addresses a fundamental question in exoplanet habitability: determining the minimum planetary size required to maintain an atmosphere, a critical prerequisite for life as we know it. She found that stagnant lid (no plate tectonics) planets Earth sized and below orbiting in the habitable zone (HZ) of a Sun-like star need to be ≥ 0.8 Earth radii to maintain their atmosphere past 1 billion years. As a Stanford Science Fellow, Michelle will advance her research and expand her planetary habitability models to look at how tectonic regime, initial volatile content, stellar type, tidal locking and tidal heating effect the results of whether a planet smaller than Earth can hold onto it's atmosphere. Her faculty host is Laura Schaefer, Assistant Professor in the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Michelle also detects and refines the masses and orbits of exoplanets using a combination of radial velocity (RV), transit and astrometry. She is currently observing 10 known planet systems that have shown indications of additional planets in orbit in order to detect the long period outer companions. These observations have lead to the discovery of 3 planets so far.
Michelle recently completed her PhD in Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Riverside, where she developed research on exoplanet habitability while supported by the NASA FINESST award. She lead a catalog paper on the demographics of all the known planets in HZ of their star where she found evidence of the sub-Saturn valley in the HZ. During this time she was also a member of the TESS-Keck Survey (TKS) team that conducted RV followup of TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs) and she lead the discovery paper of TOI-1386 b and c.
Michelle completed her post bachelor honours in astrophysics at University of Southern Queensland, Australia. Here Michelle worked on the occurrence rates of giant exoplanets in the habitable zone of their star and found that while giant planets are less likely to be found in the habitable zone than terrestrial planets, if each giant planet is host to more than one moon then exomoons could be more numerous than terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of their star. This work has direct implications for the fraction of stars in the galaxy that may host habitable terrestrial worlds.
Prior to this Michelle completed her bachelors in physics at University of New England, Australia where she attended San Francisco State University during her year abroad. Here she contributed to a study of the Kepler habitable zone planets where she found that the distribution of planets within the habitable zone closely mirrored the distribution of all known planets. This discovery had major implications for the opportunities of statistical analysis of this relatively small group of habitable zone planets.
Michelle loves flying! She was a commercial pilot before returning to school to study physics. She currently holds an Australian ATPL with plans to (one day!) convert this to an FAA APT. -
Jonas Kloeckner
Postdoctoral Scholar, Earth and Planetary Sciences
BioJonas Kloeckner is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, sponsored by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). He specializes in critical mineral exploration essential for the sustainable energy transition. Utilizing his expertise in artificial intelligence and resource forecasting, Mr. Kloeckner leads initiatives that strive to align with global sustainability goals.
Jonas earned his PhD in Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, where he later served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Geosciences. His doctoral and postdoctoral research focused on advancing geostatistical methods for Earth resources forecasting, significantly contributing to the field.
Previously, Jonas was a Visiting Research Scholar at Stanford University under the mentorship of Professor Jef Caers. He holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Mining Engineering from UFRGS, with additional international studies at Ecole des Mines d’Alès, France, and as a visiting student at Columbia University, USA.
Jonas’s current research integrates spatial data analysis with advanced decision-making processes in subsurface systems, enhancing resource management strategies and supporting sustainable mining practices. Beyond academia, he actively collaborates on various international projects, optimizing resource extraction and minimizing environmental impacts through innovative technology and interdisciplinary collaboration. -
Zhuo Liu
Postdoctoral Scholar, Earth and Planetary Sciences
BioZhuo Liu is a postdoctoral scholar at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, sponsored by Mineral-X. His expertise is in multi-geophysical data interpretation with both traditional methods and machine-learning-based methods for critical mineral exploration.
Zhuo Liu earned his PhD degree in Geophysics, with a minor degree in Geology, from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), USA. His doctoral and postdoctoral research focused on advancing geophysical data interpretation methods and incorporating geologic prior information into the interpretation process in machine-learning and geostatistical approaches for mineral resources exploration.
Previously, Zhuo earned his Bachelor's degree in Applied Geophysics from the Central South University, China, and a Master's degree in Geophysics from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), USA. He also visited the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) as a Student Visiting Scholar under the mentorship of Dr. Xinming Wu in 2021.
