Current Position:
I am a new member of the Mars General Circulation Model (GCM) team at NASA’s Ames Research Center. The Principal Investigator of the group is Robert Haberle and we are funded by NASA’s Planetary Atmospheres Program, the Mars Data Analysis Program, and the Mars Fundamental Research Program. I am analyzing MOC images of leewaves (ripples which form in clouds as they are pushed across the tops of craters), on Mars to determine wind speed and direction. This information will be compiled for craters in various regions of the planet and then fed into the Mars GCM to aid in refining its modeling of Mars’ climate.

Education:
M.S. Chemistry, San Jose State University, 1996
B.S. Chemistry, Santa Clara University, 1980

Research Interests:
I began my research career as a student and then research chemist in the Exobiology labs at Ames; have been involved in Mars-related research in the area of Planetary Protection; studied the complex protein chemistry of the muscle protein, myosin, in graduate school; and now will study Mars’ climate as a member of the Mars GCM team.

Brief Biographical Sketch:
I was born in western Pennsylvania, the middle child of my parents’ 5 daughters – I also have 3 brothers. When I was in the first grade, (and my oldest brother entering his last year of high school), my Mother wisely selected Cupertino, in the Santa Clara Valley as the place to move her large family to so that we could take advantage of the California college system. I have lived in this area since then and definitely took advantage of the educational opportunity my parents provided. I completed both a B.S. and M.S. in chemistry without ever leaving what has since become Silicon Valley.

In my junior year of college, I was offered a student research position in the Exobiology Branch at NASA’s Ames Research Center, which became a full-time contract position after I earned my degree. For the first few years at Ames my research projects were related to polymerization of amino acids into small peptides on clay minerals and oligomerization of nucleic acids onto templates, both as models of prebiotic systems (e.g., without modern biological enzymes). I also operated the analytical chemistry instrumentation for the group, analyzing everyone’s experimental samples. During this time I had the great opportunity to work for one year in the research group of Dr. Leslie Orgel at the Salk Institute in San Diego where I learned his unique template-directed oligomerization techniques and patented HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) methods to analyze the reaction products.

After working for 9 years I returned to graduate school and earned my masters in chemistry studying the muscle protein myosin – a fascinating molecule! While in school, I took a position at Ames as special assistant to the Space Science division chief. In this capacity, I became involved in the planetary protection – determining the methods and protocols to prevent “cross-contamination” of Earth and Mars (and ultimately other planets!) as we conduct planetary explorations. Prevention of an uncontrolled exchange of materials is vital to preserve the native condition of any planets we visit as well as to safeguard the Earths’ biosphere. I also served as the business manager of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life (ISSOL).

In 2002 the planetary protection work reached an important milestone with the publication of the first complete protocol for handling of returned Mars samples (Rummel, et al., 2002). This was also a natural point of closure for me and in early 2003 I accepted Bob Haberle’s invitation to join the Mars GCM team to study in detail how materials can be redistributed across the surface of the planet by atmospheric dynamics.

Outside Interests and Hobbies:
I have played the bassoon in either a band or orchestra (or both!) since junior high school. I currently play in the Peninsula Pops Orchestra and am also involved in management of that group.

While in San Diego, I learned that I absolutely love birds – I would stop off at the San Diego Zoo on my way to work just to spend some time in the big flight aviaries. Eventually, I built an outdoor aviary at home and currently have ~50 small grass finches, softbills (insectivorous birds), quail, and one cockatiel (native to Australia, China, various Pacific islands, and Africa).

I also like sewing and gardening (thanks to my Mom) and house projects like painting and plumbing (thanks to my Dad). These are handy hobbies to have since my husband, William and I are restoring our 80-year old house.

Selected Publications:
Acevedo, S.E., Development of Immunoaffinty Chromatography for the Separation of Putative Myosin Isotopes, Masters’ Thesis, San Jose State University, California (1997).

Acevedo, S.E., D.L. DeVincenzi, and S. Chang, eds., Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on Chemical Evolution and the Origin and Evolution of Life, NASA-CP-10156 (1998).

DeVincenzi, D.L., H.P. Klein, S.E. Acevedo, and R.D. Howell, Effects of Dry Heat Treatment on Bacterial Survival (Implications for Mars Sample Return), presented at the MSHARP Committee Meeting, JPL, Dec. 14-16, 1998.

Race, M. S., G. T. A. Kovacs, J. D. Rummel, and S. E. Acevedo, eds., Mars Sample Handling Protocol Workshop Series, Workshop 2 Final Report, NASA-CP-2001-210923 (2001).

Race, M. S., K. H. Nealson, J. D. Rummel, and S. E. Acevedo, eds., Mars Sample Handling Protocol Workshop Series, Workshop 3 Final Report, NASA-CP-2001-211388 (2001).

Rummel, J.D., M. S., Race, D. L. DeVincenzi, P. J. Schad, P. D. Stabekis, M. Viso, and S. E. Acevedo, eds., A Draft Test Protocol For Detecting Possible Biohazards In Martian Samples Returned To Earth, NASA-CP-211842 (2002).