•Serina Diniega•
PhD from The University of Arizona
Applied Math (Planetary Science)
firstname . lastname @jpl.nasa.gov

My doctoral advisors were Dr. Karl Glasner (Applied Math) and Dr. Shane Byrne (Planetary Science). I graduated from UA in 2010 (Dissertation: Modeling Aeolian Dune and Dune Field Evolution - .pdf) and have begun a NASA Postdoc (NPP) modeling inflationary flows under the advise of Sue Smrekar at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

For my full CV (.pdf), click here.
My JPL profile can be found here.

Education:
• PhD, Applied Mathematics, Summer 2010, University of Arizona
• MS, Applied Mathematics, December 2005, University of Arizona
• MS, Space Studies, July 2004, International Space University (Strasbourg, France)
• BS (with honors), Mathematics, June 2003, California Institute of Technology

Publications:
• Hansen, C. J., M. Bourke, N.T. Bridges, S. Byrne, C. Colon, S. Diniega, C. Dundas, K. Herkenhoff, A. McEwen, M. Mellon, G. Portyankina, N. Thomas (2011), Seasonal erosion and restoration of Mars’ northern polar dunes. Science 331, no. 6017: 575-578. doi: 10.1126/science.1197636
• Diniega, S., S. Byrne, N.T. Bridges, C.M. Dundas, A.S. McEwen (2010) "Seasonality of present-day Martian dune-gully activity." Geology 38, no. 11, 1047-1050. doi:10.1130/G31287.1
This study was featured in a Science Meeting Brief for the 2009 AGU Fall meeting. It also is the focus of a JPL and UA press releases and has been added to NASA's photo journal.
• Dundas, C.M., A.S. McEwen, S. Diniega, S. Byrne, S. Martinez-Alonso (2010), "New and recent gully activity on Mars as seen by HiRISE." Geophysical Research Letters 37, L07202. doi:10.1029/2009GL041351
• Diniega, S., K. Glasner, S. Byrne. (2010) "Long scale evolution of aeolian sand dune fields: influences of initial conditions and dune collisions." Geomorphology (special edition: Planetary Dunes) 121, 55-68. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.02.010
• Pelletier, J.D., T. Engelder, D. Comeau, A. Hudson, M. Leclerc, A. Youberg, S. Diniega. (2009) "Tectonic and structural control of fluvial channel morphology in metamorphic core complexes: The example of the Catalina-Rincon core complex, Arizona" Geosphere 5: 385-407. doi:10.1130/GES00221.1
• Hey, R.N., F. Martinez, S. Diniega, D.F. Naar, J. Francheteau, Pito93 Scientific Team. (2002) "Preliminary attempt to characterize the rotation of seafloor in the Pito Deep area of the Easter Microplate using a submersible magnetometer." Marine Geophysical Research 23: 1-12. doi:10.1023/A:1021257915420

Professional Affiliations:
• Geological Society of America
• American Geophysical Union
• Mars-Dune.org Consortium
• Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

My research interests lie in the development and application of models of landform evolution. The goal of this research is to determine qualitative and quantitative connections between environmental conditions and landform morphology, which is needed to make predictions about future landform evolution (using current or extrapolated environmental conditions) or the derivation of past environmental conditions (based on current morphology). The latter point is my primary focus, as I am especially interested in interpreting surface and environment history from landforms seen in remotely sensed images of planetary surfaces.

As a mathematician working on geomorphological questions, I have found that an interdisciplinary approach provides me with a unique and useful perspective in identification of key environmental parameters and geological processes. The use of simple mathematical models aids in decoupling complex geologic behavior. Additionally, simulation and/or analysis of model equations helps in the identification and quantification of subtle relationships between processes and/or environmental parameters. However, these models require validation and calibration, which can only be done through observations and geological studies. Such studies are vitally important in qualitative identification of possible relationships, which can validate and guide modeling efforts.

My dissertation research was on aeolian sand dune evolution. In particular, I attempted to isolate and quantify influencing or limiting environmental factors that create apparent characteristic dune sizes and spatial distributions, as observed in dune fields on the Earth and Mars. To evaluate dune evolution, I used a continuum two-layer model which (1) estimates the sand flux amount based on the wind shear stress over the topography, and (2) relates this to changes in dune topography via mass conservation. To study dune field evolution, I used the dune evolution model to define simple dune migration and interaction rules. These rules were used to dictate the behavior of dunes within a field, which were approximated as discrete particles. Although very simplistic, this model yields a preliminary, but detailed, ability to predict the formation of a patterned dune field through dune collisions (Diniega et al. 2009).

I was supported through the latter half of my PhD program by the NASA Jenkins Pre-doctoral Fellowship Program.