Sonia Tikoo-Schantz
I am currently a third-year graduate student in Planetary Science (specializing in Paleomagnetism) at MIT.
Research interests:
My current research involves trying to figure out if the Moon ever generated its own magnetic field in the past, like the Earth does today. I get to play with Moon rocks from the Apollo missions and study their magnetic properties!
Paleomagnetism is a very exciting field which can be applied to solve many problems in geoscience. Scientists use the direction of magnetization in rocks to study the historical movements of tectonic plates on Earth. Magnetism tells us where the continents used to be located at different stages in Earth history!
On the side, I also love learning about meteorites/asteroids, other planets, space missions, history of the solar system, etc. and can discuss these topics if desired as well.
Desired age group:
Paleomagnetic concepts (magnetism, basic geology, geometry principles etc.) would probably be best understood by students in 4th grade and above. However, I am also open to working with younger students. In this case, we could probably come up with a more simplistic presentation about a scientist's lifestyle, the Moon, or the Apollo missions.
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