Daniel Sullivan

Campus Mailing Address: 

550 E. TYLER MALL PS-F WING, ROOM 686  TEMPE, AZ 85287-1404

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Dan Sullivan is a PhD student in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. His research explores the history of Earth and Mars with a particular interest in planetary habitability. To do this he works on two projects, one in isotope geochemistry and another in nuclear physics: 1) Application of novel and established techniques in isotope geochemistry to ancient rocks as a window to look at Earth millions-to-billions of years ago (advised by Ariel Anbar). 2) examining Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) active-mode data from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover to study Martian surface and shallow-subsurface conditions along Curiosity's traverse (advised by Craig Hardgrove).

Some of his scientific interests include: •Examining the relationship between the evolution of life and changes in the oxygenation of the atmosphere and ocean. •Increasing the utility of DAN and accuracy of data by: 1) including the surface geology (such as sand cover) along MSL's traverse into models, and 2) using geochemistry DAN is sensitive to to track underground geologic features such as high-silica layers.

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He has a M.Sc in Geology from the University of Houston advised by Dr. Alan Brandon. His thesis research was on oceanic anoxic event 2 (~95 Ma) where he collected highly siderophile element (Ru, Pd, Re, Os, Ir, Pt) concentrations and osmium isotope data from marine sedimentary rocks deposited during the event.

When not in the lab, he enjoys competitive video games. Current games include: Fortnite, league of legends, and starcraft 2. He was a semi-professional Halo player (Halo 2 and 3).