Steve Ruff is a planetary geologist with a focus on the mineralogy of Mars determined via infrared spectroscopy, part of an effort to understand its geologic history and potential for past habitability. Through field work in Mars analog settings and laboratory work using field samples, he seeks to better interpret observations from Mars.
Steve earned a B.S. in Geology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1985. Following four years of professional employment as an exploration geologist, he went on to earn a Ph.D. in Geology from Arizona State University in 1998 with an emphasis on thermal infrared emission spectroscopy of geologic materials. This work involved pioneering the instrumentation and techniques to acquire quantitative spectral data that serve as the basis for analysis of spectral data from Mars. As a graduate student and post-doctoral researcher with Professor Phil Christensen from 1991 to 1999, he was involved in the operations and analysis of data from the ‘96 Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer. This work continued with a Faculty Research Associate appointment at ASU in 2000 and involvement in the 2001 Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System. Beginning in 2004, he spent nearly seven years as the operations lead for the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and continued as a team associate of the Opportunity rover mission until its end in 2018. In 2013 he was appointed an Associate Research Professor in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and continues in this role to pursue laboratory spectroscopy and techniques to support the analysis of spectral data from Mars.
