My name is Tabb Prissel and I am the Gordon A. McKay Postdoctoral Fellow at the Lunar & Planetary Institute and working within the Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center. I'm interested in the large-scale magmatic evolution of the rocky planets, moons, and differentiated asteroids. My research blends an expertise in experimental petrology and natural sample analysis with global geologic characterizations made by orbital spacecraft and geophysical models. I developed a passion for experimental and analytical petrology pursuing my B.Sc. degree at Minnesota State University Moorhead, working in our experimental and electron-probe microanalysis labs. My interests in planetary geology led me to a geophysics internship at the NASA Ames Research Center working with the Martian and Titan (moon of Saturn) wind tunnels. This path then propelled me into the Ph.D. program at Brown University.
I’m also enthusiastic about teaching and mentoring. I strive to promote friendly, safe, and thought-provoking environments in the classroom and lab. I firmly believe (1) that geologists are storytellers and (2) questions are good. In this way, I emphasize conceptual- and inquiry-based experiments and activities to engage students and empower exploration. I also believe in presenting discussion topics in a manner that allows teacher and student to become colleagues in discovery. If you have any questions about graduate school, internships, or any of the research I'm involved with, please do get in touch!