Dr. Frances Rivera-Hernández (she/ella) 🇵🇷🚀

ours too 😬

A shallow mantle source for the Chang’e 5 lavas reveals how top-down heating prolonged lunar magmatism The chemistry of the youngest lunar lavas and experiments show how the mantle stayed hot enough to melt for billions of years.

🚨New Paper Alert!🚨
I've got a new paper out in Science Advances where we show that the 2 byr old Chang'e 5 magma came from shallow depths in the lunar mantle, and that melting was likely driven by top-down heating of the mantle by radioactive decay in a sub-crustal KREEP layer.
⚒️🧪🔭
Check it out:

SC25CN503. Building a Culture of Access for Geoscientists with Disabil Full Title: Building a Culture of Access for Geoscientists with Disabilities in the Workforce (hybrid) Endorsed by: GSA’s Geology and Health, Environmental and Engineering Geology, Quaternary Geology ...

GSA Connects 2025 Attendees: My collaborators and I invite you to our hybrid workshop - Building a Culture of Access for Geoscientists with Disabilities in the Workforce. Travel grants are available for in-person attendees. Learn more at: store.geosociety.org/products/sc2...
@geosociety.bsky.social

It was such an unexpected and happy surprise to have an asteroid named after me!

My sincerest thanks to those who made it possible

a young boy is dancing in a classroom with other children . Alt: a young boy is dancing in a classroom with other children .

Ohhh babyyy, it’s Juneteenth! Happy Junteenth from Black In Astro! ✊🏽

There's still time to get those submissions in! As long as it's astro related it counts. We've had some great astro events, including eclipses, aurorae, and more. Astrophotography is eligible as well! @amyraehill.bsky.social @stellerarts.com and @startorialist.com are sponsors! #BlackSpaceWeek

Atlanta metro 👀

Ben Lee became head of the theory group at the National Accelerator Laboratory (now Fermilab) in 1974. From left are Antonio Pagnamenta, Lee, Mary Gaillard, Shirley Ann Jackson, Robert Savit, Anthony Ichiro Sanda, Satish Joglekar, John Bronzan, and Jochen Bartels. (Photo courtesy of Fermilab.)

Absolutely stunning work of ⚛️ history in @physicstoday.bsky.social about Ben Lee, the Korean American who was the first head of theory at Fermilab. He hired the first Black woman particle theory lab staff in global history, Shirley Ann Jackson. #BlackandSTEM 🧪
pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...

Our global petition to save NASA science closes this Thursday, and we’re just shy of 15,000 signatures! Every name counts, this petition will be hand-delivered to members of Congress. Add yours today, Save NASA Science.
planet.ly/petition

My Canadian university, Queen's, is offering TWENTY 4-year funded PhDs (40k CAD/yr) for a student of ANY citizenship who has been accepted at a top 100 US university but have had offer rescinded OR are reconsidering offer due to US policy.
Details found here👇

www.queensu.ca/grad-postdoc...

Volcano “Hidden in Plain Sight” Could Help Date Mars — and its Habitability

GT news release about our new paper led by former REU student @saracuevas.bsky.social (soon to be grad student at Brown) who worked with James Wray and myself at GT!

The giant mountain on on the rim of Jezero crater??...likely a volcano - Jezero Mons 🌋 !!!!

A sketch of a colorful Mars rover holding an inclusive pride flag in its robot arm. It’s very stylized, colorful, and got a little smile. It’s on a starry background.

A sketch of our Solar System, drom Mercury to Pluto. The planets are colored with the colors of an inclusive pride flag. It’s on a starry background. Above the planets is the text “Enough Space for Everyone”

Happy pride month! I worked with some LA-based scientists and engineers, and we have a kickstarter for space pride t-shirts! Consider backing!
🛰️🏳️‍⚧️🚀🏳️‍🌈🪐

www.kickstarter.com/projects/spa...

Visiting Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Geoscience Visiting Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Geoscience Washington and Lee University: Department of Earth and Environmental Geoscience Location: Lexington, VA Open Date: Jun 04, 2025 Descr...

Hi all, especially ECRs! My Department is hiring a Visiting Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Geoscience.

We are a small liberal arts college with a small but engaged geo department. Looking to interview and hire immediately. Please apply! ⚒️

careers.geosociety.org/job/visiting...

Warmest congrats to former SAO Astro REU student *Dr* Osase Omoruyi, seen here with her excellent PhD advisor Dr Grant Tremblay celebrating her successful thesis defense today.

Jezero Mons! Could explain where so much of the Jezero crater volcanic deposits come from. www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Do you have a reference - super interested in reading it

Super cool!

Volcano “Hidden in Plain Sight” Could Help Date Mars — and its Habitability

GT news release about our new paper led by former REU student @saracuevas.bsky.social (soon to be grad student at Brown) who worked with James Wray and myself at GT!

The giant mountain on on the rim of Jezero crater??...likely a volcano - Jezero Mons 🌋 !!!!

Planetary geo folks, consider proposing planetary sessions for your regional GSA meeting (and submit abstracts!). Regionals are small but also more affordable, esp. for students.

Yeah, regions don’t usually have much planetary b/c spring is LPSC. Let’s change that. Session proposals due July 15.

USRA/LPI has announced that they intend to proceed with "LPSC 2026" next year, despite NASA seemingly no longer planning to support that meeting.

But why would the community participate in such a meeting when USRA/LPI has shown such disregard for topics we hold to be important?

Yup 🤡

Request for Information: Conference on Lunar, Planetary and Space Sciences Decision Made Not to Solicit Partnership Proposals Number: NNH25ZDA006L Short URL: https://go.nasa.gov/LPSS24RFI The Science Mission Directorate's (SMD) Planetary Science Division(PSD) is updating its Community Announcement regarding future Lunar, Planetary and Space Sciences Conferences that was published under Number: NNH25ZDA006L as a special notice on SAM.gov. In November 2024, NASA issued a Request for Information (RFI) NNH25ZDA006L to gauge interest in a partnership to organize a conference on lunar, planetary, and space science. Based on the response to this RFI, NASA gave an update on progress towards a future release of an Announcement for Partnership Proposals (AFPP) in February 2025. This email notice is to inform the community that, at this time, NASA has decided not to pursue an AFPP as described in the RFI and the "Questions and Answers for the LPSS RFI posted February 10, 2025 (pdf)". The Planetary Science Division is studying options for future support of community-led and community-driven

Today in examples of how obeying in advance gets you nothing.

LPI took down all our DEIA related abstracts to avoid pissing off NASA.

And NASA just killed LPSC.

Evidence for a composite volcano on the rim of Jezero crater on Mars - Communications Earth & Environment Jezero Mons, a mountain which rises above Jezero crater on Mars, may be a composite volcano, according to an analysis of satellite imagery, hyperspectral and thermal inertia data which suggests a morp...

New paper drop led by former REU student @saracuevas.bsky.social (soon to be grad student at Brown) who worked with James Wray and myself at GT:

The giant mountain on on the rim of Jezero crater??...observations suggest it's likely a volcano - Jezero Mons 🌋 !!!!

www.nature.com/articles/s43...

The NASA planetary science fleet chart. It shows two spirals with missions to Moon/Mars and the Solar System. I’ve crossed off all of the missions that will be cancelled in the president’s budget… and there are a lot of them.

The NASA planetary science fleet chart if the president’s budget is enacted.

BREAKING: The president's budget request just hit Congress, which could usher in a dark age for NASA space science.
Congress has the final say, but you can help shape the outcome by adding your name to our global petition.
This is just the start of our fight.
Sign the petition: planet.ly/petition

Scientists with ADHD speak up: when fire meets focus Researchers with ADHD discuss its peaks and valleys and how they structure their work lives to succeed.

Navigating ADHD as a scientist: Shared tips and strategies for task and time management, including by volcanologist Lis Gallant (@bipedalmeatbag.bsky.social), whose ADHD is a superpower in the (lava🌋) field. Reporting by @plantnerd.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

We have an astrobiology minor now! @methanojen.bsky.social and @francypants.bsky.social helped make it happen. b.gatech.edu/457NSoN

Billions wasted, mysteries unsolved: The missions NASA may be forced… Proposed NASA cuts would cancel dozens of space missions — including spacecraft already paid for, launched, and making discoveries.

Here are all the missions that face cancellation as part of a devastating 47% cut to NASA's science program.
www.planetary.org/articles/bil...

NASA Study Reveals Venus Crust Surprise - NASA Science New details about the crust on Venus include some surprises about the geology of Earth’s hotter twin.

Venus is awesome. New feature story about our recent paper:

science.nasa.gov/science-rese...

Georgia Tech Offers New Astrobiology Minor

Excited for our new Astrobiology minor at GT!! 💫 Years in the making w/ @methanojen.bsky.social

cos.gatech.edu/news/georgia...