Grad Student Spotlights

My research interests include understanding the evolution of terrestrial planets and what makes a planet habitable. I am also interested in the search for life beyond Earth.
My current research focusses on analyzing the lithospheric structure of Venus. Venus is very similar to Earth in both size and density, suggesting that the two should have similar heat sources. A misleading hypothesis might be that the tectonics of Venus would be similar to Earth, however, we now know this is untrue and mantle convection on Venus has a different surface expression than the Earth. The pressing question of why Venus and Earth evolved so differently thus also arises for the surface and interior. Studying the mantle convection and lithospheric structure of Venus and understanding why it diverged from Earth will help us shed new light on the evolution of terrestrial planets. The surface of Venus consists of some of the longest channels known in the Solar system. These channels, termed “Canali”, can be up to 6,800km in length and maintain almost constant width throughout their course. My goal is to analyze deformation features along the flow of these Canali and then model their observed frequencies to predict the thickness of the Venusian lithosphere.
I am also working on generating digital topographic models (DTMs) for Saturn's largest moon Titan. Titan is the only extraterrestrial body known to have an active hydrological cycle and support stable liquid bodies on its surface. Apart from hydrocarbon lakes and seas, Titan's surface also comprises of mountains, dunes and impact craters. The Cassini mission competed over a 100 targeted flybys of Titan and gathered synthetic aperture (SAR) images. Some of these images overlap with one another and give rise to stereo-pairs. Using the parallax distortions that arise when viewing the surface of Titan from different directions, we can extract the topographic relief of Titan's surface and thus generate DTMs in selected areas with a horizontal resolution of a few km and a vertical precision of a few hundred meters. 

Apart from my research, I really enjoy teaching and astronomy outreach! I've been a teaching assistant for introductory astronomy courses and been involved with several outreach events with the department. In my free time, I love playing squash, soccer, and hiking. Advisor: Professor Alex Hayes

Nicholas “Nic” Walter-Scott Kutsop is a 5th year PhD candidate advised by Professor Alexander G Hayes as a part of the COMPASSE (Comparative Planetology and Solar System Exploration) Research Group [http://hayesresearchgroup.com]. He receives additional advisement from Professor Jonathan Lunine, as well as Dr. Christophe Sotin, and Dr. Bonnie Buratti at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His thesis is on the spectrophotometric properties of icy solar system bodies. On Titan (Saturn’s largest moon) Nic uses infrared and radar data from the Cassini spacecraft to describe the correlations between types of terrain and their composition. At Pluto, Nic uses high resolution color images taken by the New Horizons spacecraft to characterize the haze in Pluto’s atmosphere. Nic is involved in mission development, for the Europa Clipper mission and CAESAR (Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return) mission. He specializes in trajectory analysis and spacecraft pointing using the Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility’s SPICE infrastructure [https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/].

Nic was awarded the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship in 2018 and the New York Space Grant in 2016 for his work on Titan’s surface composition. He is also partially funded by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and spends his summers and winters working there with collaborators on Titan, Pluto, and mission development. Nic has worked as a teaching assistant in both undergraduate and graduate. As a graduate student, he has mentored several undergraduates working with Dr. Hayes and other graduate students on projects involving Europa, Titan, and comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. He participates in and leads outreach events organized by the Astronomy Department at Cornell, the Astronomy Grad Network, and the Spacecraft and Planetary Imaging Facility. 

Outside of work (if such a thing exists) Nic spends his time hiking, playing video games, and spending time with his family. He is a proud uncle of 14 nieces and nephews and begrudging brother of 6 sisters. He is also a practicing Catholic and enjoys sharing his passion for faith and science with others, especially as an educator to local students. Nic’s ultimate dream is be the principal investigator on a mission of his own design. In particular, he would like to lead an orbiting imaging spectrometer of Titan, Uranus, or Neptune based on the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer aboard the Cassini satellite or a Martian rover designed to explore caves and lava tubes.