Dr. W. Brent Garry Geologist Center for Earth and Planetary Studies National Air and Space Museum garryw@si.edu

Dr. Garry joined the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies in 2005 and is currently a Post-doc. He finished his Ph.D. in May, 2006 at the University at Buffalo, New York and holds a B.S. in Geology from the College of William and Mary, Virginia (1999) and an M.S. in Geology from the University of Kentucky (2001).

The focus of Dr. Garry's research is on the emplacement of lava flows, specifically channeled lava flows, in different volcanic environments, including Hawai'i, the East Pacific Rise, and on Mars. For part of his dissertation research, Dr. Garry conducted experiments to simulate lava flows using polyethylene glycol (PEG) wax. This process involved injecting warmed wax into a tilted "fish tank" filled with cold, sugar water and monitoring the wax as it flows and solidifies into various morphologies.

In addition to volcanoes, Dr. Garry is interested in the human exploration of space. This was fostered by watching shuttle launches in the early 1980's while living in Florida and also working as a counselor at Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama in 2000. Since 2003, Dr. Garry has been involved with the Mobile Agents Project, based at NASA-Ames Research Center, since 2003. He has spent a total of 8 weeks at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Hanksville, Utah, a Mars Analogue facility run by the Mars Society. At the MDRS, Dr. Garry was one of two geologists that simulated EVAs on Mars to field test equipment that could be used by Astronauts on Mars. The PI for this project is Dr. William J. Clancey. For more information, please see the archives for Crews 16, 29, 38, and 49 at: http://www.marssociety.org/mdrs/mdrs07.asp

When not in the field, Dr. Garry enjoys SCUBA diving, watching movies, and teaching little kids about space exploration.

Dr. Garry's CV (PDF)