Biography

Dr. Jannatul Ferdous is a geoscientist working at NASA-Johnson Space Center within Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division from Jacobs JETS II Contract. She is currently involved in Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign, Mars Sample Receiving Project (SRP), and OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Mission, where she is responsible for processing samples, testing lab environments, writing procedural documents, and conducting various scientific research and experiments. She also serves as a lab manager for Mars2020 Contamination Knowledge (CK) (scientific baselines for terrestrial contamination) sample collections.

Jannatul received her PhD in geology (Planetary Geochemistry) from the University of Houston in 2019. Her dissertation was on crustal contribution assessment in enriched shergottite magma of Mars using petrology, geochemistry, and radiogenic isotope systems. To achieve the study, she used different scientific analytical instruments, such as SEM, EMP, LA-ICP-MS, and TIMS to obtain qualitative and quantitative measurements of major and trace element concentrations, and radiogenic isotope ratios to determine formation ages (Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd), and to conduct overall geochemical context of Martian rock origin and evolution. Jannatul also earned her bachelor’s (2010) and master’s (2012) degrees in geology, from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her master’s thesis was on risk assessment of arsenic (As) transport in Dhaka City groundwater from the surrounding shallow aquifers using logistic regression models. She received a fellowship from Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Switzerland, to conduct her master’s research. Prior to working for NASA-JSC, she served as an adjunct faculty at Lee College in Baytown, TX, teaching Geology courses.