Maggie A. Thompson

In general, my research interests include rocky planets, experimental cosmochemistry, the study of how planetary systems form and evolve, the connection between planetary interiors and atmospheres, and astrobiology.

For my Ph.D., I worked with Professors Myriam Telus and Jonathan Fortney on understanding terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres from their outgassing origins to likely observable biosignatures via experiments and modeling tools. During this time, I conducted meteorite outgassing experiments to inform our understanding of the initial atmospheric compositions of rocky exoplanets. Outgassing during planetary accretion and differentiation is an important process by which terrestrial planets form their initial atmospheres. However, we currently do not have a first-principles understanding of how to connect a low-mass planet’s interior to its atmospheric properties. Since meteorites are believed to be representative of the building blocks of planets, these outgassing experiments help inform this interior-atmosphere connection for terrestrial planets.

Relevant Materials: Thompson et al. 2021 Nature Astronomy; Behind the Paper blog post; 2021 LPSC abstract; Exoclimes V talk

On the modeling side, I studied biosignatures that are likely detectable with telescopes like JWST. I conducted a study with Dr. Joshua Krissansen-Totton to determine the planetary conditions needed for atmospheric methane to be a compelling biosignature. Using a variety of multiphase thermodynamic and atmospheric chemistry models, we investigated various abiotic sources of of methane to determine if, under different conditions, they could be enhanced on other planets to result in false-positive scenarios. We determined that known abiotic processes cannot easily generate atmospheres rich in CH4 and CO2 with limited CO due to the strong redox disequilibrium between CH4 and CO2, providing the first tentative framework for assessing methane biosignatures

Relevant Materials: Thompson et al. 2022 PNAS

I spent the 2016-17 academic year as a research trainee at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Earth and Planets Laboratory (EPL), under the mentorship of Drs. Alycia Weinberger and Alan Boss. During my time at EPL, I performed data analysis of an unusually warm, dusty debris disk surrounding a binary star system using the SOFIA airborne observatory. The most likely explanation for such copious amounts of warm dust surrounding these stars is a catastrophic collision between planetary-scale bodies. In addition, I helped with the photometric calibrations for the Carnegie Astrometric Planet Search program, which will find exoplanets, brown dwarfs and stellar companions.

Relevant Materials: Thompson et al. 2019; NASA press release

While an undergraduate at Princeton, I conducted several independent research projects during my junior and senior years related to exoplanets, including a preliminary study of the distribution and demographics of exoplanets found in binary star systems for those stars analyzed by NASA’s Kepler satellite. For my senior thesis research, I worked with Professor David Spergel on a project that developed an original approximate model to aid in the astrometric detection and characterization of multiple exoplanet systems. 

My prior research experience includes working at Caltech’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center under the mentorship of Dr. Davy Kirkpatrick.  Analyzing data from the WISE satellite, we discovered over 40 previously undetected brown dwarfs. In addition, I have interned at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium.  

Relevant Materials: Thompson et al. 2013

When I'm not doing science, I love exploring new places, going on slow runs while listening to podcasts and reading a good book. I also spend lots of time hanging with my Shih Tzu/Ewok pup, Rocket.