Professional Website of Isaac B. Smith

Short Bio

My research focuses on sedimentary systems on Mars, especially related to the polar layered deposits, or ice caps. Primarily I use data from the shallow radar (SHARAD) instrument in Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to look for reflections beneath the surface of Mars. These reflections tell us about the geophysical makeup of the deposits and the geometry in which they were deposited. Some other instruments I use regularly are the Mars Orbiter Laster Altimeter (MOLA), the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE).

Associate Professor, Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering, York University (2023–present)
Senior Scientist, Planetary Science Institute (2023–present)
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering, York University (2018–2023)
Research Scientist, Planetary Science Institute (2017–2023)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Planetary Science Institute (2016–2017)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Southwest Research Institute (2014–2016)
Fulbright Scholar, Universite Sorbonne (2013–2014)

In August 2013 I completed the Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences.
During my PhD I held a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship to study the spiral troughs on Mars polar layered deposits. In addition, I spent one semester at the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique in Paris, also working with Aymeric Spiga.
In December 2007 I completed a Masters of Science degree in physics from the University of Missouri – St. Louis.
From August 2006 to August 2007 time I spent one year in Stuttgart, Germany at the Universitaet Stuttgart taking physics classes towards my M.S. while learning German and practicing Spanish.
In May 2002 I finished a Bachelors of Science in physics with a minor in mathematics from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.