Bio

I am a doctoral candidate in the Earth and Planetary Surface Processes Group, where I study ancient windblown depositional systems on Earth and Mars and apply sediment transport relations to reconstruct the environmental conditions under which they formed. My research combines field-based sedimentological and stratigraphic characterization with remote sensing and laboratory techniques such as zircon microtextural analysis. Before starting my PhD, I worked on a range of aerospace engineering and physics projects, including materials development for spacecraft electrospray thrusters, nanofabrication for astrophysics instrumentation, and computational modeling for icy moon exploration.

Honors & Awards

  • Graduate Student Research Grant, Geological Society of America (2026)
  • Bob Compton Field Geology Research Grant, Stanford Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (2026)
  • Travel Grant, International Society on Aeolian Research (2026)
  • Travel Grant, Stanford Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (2025)
  • Knight-Hennessy Scholarship, Stanford University (2024)
  • Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (2024)
  • Presidential Graduate Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2023)
  • Yngve Raustein Award for Scholarship, Teamwork and Community (Unified Engineering Class of 2020), MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (2020)
  • Quest for Excellence STEM Award, QuestBridge (2017)

Professional Affiliations and Activities

  • Member, International Society for Aeolian Research (2026 - Present)
  • Member, Geological Society of America (2026 - Present)
  • Member, American Geophysical Union (2023 - Present)

Education & Certifications

  • S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Earth & Planetary Sciences (2024)
  • S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aerospace Engineering and Physics with minors in Astronomy and Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences (2022)

Service, Volunteer and Community Work

  • Emergency Medical Technician, Stanford EMS (February 1, 2026 - Present)

    Location

    Stanford, CA, USA

  • Workshop Instructor, The Lily Foundation (June 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022)

    Location

    West Bengal, India

  • Workshop Instructor, Pestalozzi Education Center (January 1, 2022 - January 31, 2022)

    Location

    Lusaka, Zambia

Contact

  • Academic
    vcolicci@stanford.edu
    University - Student Department: Earth & Planetary Sciences Position: Graduate

Additional Info

Links

Work Experience

  • Nanofabrication Engineer, Izentis LLC (March 1, 2022 - May 31, 2024)

    Location

    Cambridge, MA, USA

  • Technology and Innovation Intern, United Nations Development Programme (June 1, 2024 - July 31, 2024)

    Location

    Freetown, Sierra Leone

All Publications

  • Effects of Root Architecture on Plant Anchoring in Noncohesive Sediment JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-EARTH SURFACE Douglas, M. M., Colicci, V., Sandu, N. A., Yilmaz, L., Kamrin, K., Perron, J. 2026; 131 (8)

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2025JF008680

    View details for Web of Science ID 001850176200001

  • Microtextural analyses of detrital zircon for paleoenvironmental interpretations of metasedimentary rocks GEOLOGY Marvin, M., Hasson, M., Colicci, V., Abubo, R., Lapôtre, M. G. 2026; 54 (1): 35-39

    View details for DOI 10.1130/G53712.1

  • Monodisperse Porous Emitter Materials for Ion Electrospray Propulsion JOURNAL OF PROPULSION AND POWER MacArthur, J., Colicci, V., Lozano, P. 2024; 40 (6): 859-868

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.B39375

    View details for Web of Science ID 001264846200001

  • Searching for Subsurface Oceans on the Moons of Uranus Using Magnetic Induction GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Weiss, B. P., Biersteker, J. B., Colicci, V., Goode, A., Castillo-Rogez, J. C., Petropoulos, A. E., Balint, T. S. 2021; 48 (19)

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2021GL094758

    View details for Web of Science ID 000706306000048

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3520-6378