Geochemistry and geochronology with Stephanie E. Suarez

Release Date: 10 July, 2020
Share on:

Stephanie Suarez is a PhD student at the University of Houston and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program fellow. She specialises in geochemistry and geochronology, and works with both terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials, or rather, earth and space matter.

Join us as we talk about being a first-generation college student, make-up, geological dating techniques, and volcanism on Mars.

About Stephanie E. Suarez

Stephanie Suarez is a PhD student specialising in geochemistry and geochronology. Her research interests include chronology of both terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials. She earned her Bachelor of Science in General Geosciences from the University of Texas at Austin in 2017. As an undergraduate researcher, she determined ages of early land biotas to further understand the rate of land colonisation. She earned her Master of Science in Geology from the University of Houston in 2019, where she determined the crystallisation age of Tissint, the fifth witnessed Martian meteorite fall. She is continuing her studies at the University of Houston as a PhD student in Geology and NSF GRFP fellow. Currently, she conducts isotopic and petrologic analyses on Martian meteorites to better understand the nature and timing of magmatism on Mars.

As an undergrad, Stephanie developed improvements to geological dating techniques which lead to the discovery of the age of the oldest land breathing animal.

Listen to the Podcast

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Castbox, Deezer, Goodpods, Overcast, Pocket Casts, TuneIn, Blubrry, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, JioSaavn, RSS , and other podcast platforms.

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on iHeartRadio Listen on Amazon Music

Watch on YouTube

  • [00:48] What is geochronology?
  • [02:34] The questions that geochronology can answer.
  • [04:04] The accuracy and precision of dating materials.
  • [07:00] Getting retweeted by Chris Hadfield
  • [07:39] What drew Stephanie to the field of geology.
  • [10:39] How minerology connects back to Stephanie's experience with chemistry
  • [10:52] On developing the technique that helped to identify age of the 425-million-year-old millipede fossil from the Scottish island of Kerrera
  • [13:49] On being a first-generation college student.
  • [16:09] How Stephanie stayed focussed and motivated during tough times.
  • [17:36] Finding support at college.
  • [21:04] What learning about Mars volcanism teaches us.
  • [23:44] Stephanie's PhD Mars research
  • [26:12] The volcanic plumbing of Mars
  • [27:32] The techniques used for dating materials from Mars
  • [29:54] On choosing to do a Masters before embarking on a PhD
  • [31:04] Bonus Question 1: What hobby or interest do you have that is most unrelated to your field of work?
  • [33:31] Bonus Question 2: Which childhood book holds the strongest memories for you?
  • [34:59] Bonus Question 3: What advice you would give someone who wants to do what you do? Or what advice should they ignore?
  • [37:11] Finding the 'good people' on your journey
How to cite: Ong, M. (Host), & Suarez, S. (Guest). (2020, July 10). Geochemistry and geochronology with Stephanie E. Suarez [Audio podcast episode]. In STEAM Powered. Michele Ong. https://www.steampoweredshow.com/shows/stephanie-suarez.html

Topics/Resources/People Mentioned

Additional Resources

Connect with Us

Support STEAM Powered

Review Us

Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, GoodPods, Podchaser, or your preferred podcatcher.

Become a Patron

Patreon Logo Become a patron

Affiliate Programs

Start your own podcast or YouTube channel, or run panels and seminars with Riverside.fm. Record up to 8 people in a session with up to 1000 audience members. You can record in advance as I do, or you can livestream with the option to send it straight to Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, or Twitch. There’s even a green-room for guests and live call in for audience members. Afterwards, get separate video (up to 4K) and audio (up to 48kHz) tracks per recorded participant for editing, none of that “active speaker only” limitation. You know you’re in good hands with a service whose client-base includes some heavy-hitters. Check out Riverside.fm to see who else is on board. Use promo code STEAM25 to get 25% off the first three months of your subscription.

Music is “Gypsy Jazz in Paris 1935” by Brett Van Donsel.

More in science

Water policy and research

Episode #4 • June 26, 2020

Water policy and research with Dr Kat Taylor

Dr Kat Taylor is a researcher at the ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy, and is also the Managing Editor of the Global Water Forum. She has experience in a variety of areas around water research ranging from policy to irrigation. Join us as we talk about dance fitness, water governance, and the Global Water Forum.

The epidemiology of space

Episode #78 • April 22, 2025

The epidemiology of space with Sabine Bellstedt

A lot about what it is to be human is understanding who we are and where we came from, whether that's genetically, geographically, or otherwise. But what if we zoomed out and approached it at a galaxy level? What could we learn about who we are, what we understand about the universe, and what humans are capable of achieving? Sabine Bellstedt is an astronomer working on the epidemiology of space and on large scale projects with international teams not only to understand the universe, but how we understand the universe. Join us as we speak with Sabine about her journey to astrophysics, space epidemiology, and the impact of astronomical innovation.