Shane Byrne

I am interested in surface processes on planetary bodies throughout the solar system, especially those processes that affect, or are driven by, planetary ices. I enjoy working with a diverse group of graduate students and postdocs. Our areas of activity include Martian ice stability, polar stratigraphy and connection to past climates; Ceres ice, both cryovolcanic and as a source of water vapor; and ice-sublimation landforms on a variety of bodies.

Missions are a big part of what we do. I’m a co-Investigator on the HiRISE and CaSSIS cameras at Mars and a Guest Investigator on the Dawn mission at Ceres. I’m also the director of the Space Imagery Center, a NASA Regional Planetary Image Facility. We archive planetary spacecraft and telescopic data not available online and conduct many outreach events.

Research Interests

Planetary Analogs, Planetary Geophysics, Planetary Surfaces