Download a pdf of my CV here: Madison_Douglas_CV

Education

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
PhD Candidate
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
Fall 2017 – Present

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Master’s of Geology awarded June 2019

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Class of 2016
Bachelors in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science (EAPS)
Minor in History
GPA: 4.9/5.0


Research Experience

California Institute of Technology
Fall 2017 – Present

  • Running hydraulically scaled frozen flume experiments to understand the physical mechanisms and rates of permafrost riverbank erosion
  • Constructing numerical models of permafrost bank erosion
  • Organized inter-disciplinary field campaigns to Huslia, AK; Wax Lake Delta, LA; and Death Valley, CA
  • Analyzed how migration of the Koyukuk River, AK affects floodplain organic carbon stocks and microbial communities

US Geological Survey, Menlo Park
Fall 2016 – Summer 2017

  • Installed hydrologic monitoring equipment with researchers Jonathan Stock and Corina Cerovski-Darriau on the Big Island of Hawai’i and analyzing the resulting datasets

Fermat Capital Management
Summer 2016

  • Analyzed the probability of flooding due to storm surge to determine the expected yields of catastrophe bonds, which provide additional funds to insurance companies for low-probability, high-cost natural disasters

Geomorphology Group, EAPS Department, MIT
Winter 2013-Spring 2016

  • Created river network profiles for escarpments in Brazil to examine drainage divide migration rates and compare them to rates of stream capture
  • Analyzed the changes in landslide characteristics with respect to changing values of root reinforcement using MatLab
  • Compiled and prepared precipitation and elevation data for hotspot islands using ArcGIS
  • Physically separated olivine crystals from river colluvium for Beryllium-10 cosmogenic ray exposure analysis

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Summer 2015

  • Processed radar images from the Magellan probe and the Arecibo observatory using IDL
  • Analyzed surface features, including corona, lava flows and variations in surficial highreflectivity coatings on Venus by comparing radar polarization datasets with terrestrial analogs
  • Operated the Arecibo Radio Observatory to observe Venus in August 2015

Department of Petrology, University of Salamanca
Summer 2014

  • Balanced chemical reactions for crustal assimilation of xenoliths using mass conservation and algebraic best fits
  • Constructed a computer model for magma chamber cooling using COMSOL Multiphysics
  • Constrained model parameters using a literature search for crustal and magmatic thermodynamic properties and magma crystallization computed using MELTS
  • Improved Spanish language skills in formal, scientific and conversational settings

Bowring Lab, EAPS Department, MIT
Summer 2011

  • Physically and chemically separated radiogenic isotopes for use in geochronology using massspectroscopy, cleaned and maintained lab materials

Teaching Experience

TA for Ge121a: Advanced Field Geology 
Fall 2021
Organizing a 9-day field trip to Carrizo Plain, California to instruct and assist students in surveying channels and hillslopes offset and uplifted by the San Andreas FaultOrganized a 9-day camping trip to Carrizo Plain

TA for Ge125: Geomorphology 
Fall 2020
Assisted students in completing lab activities to predict landslide hazard in the Chino Hills using an infinite-slope model and assess terrace formation due to long-term climatic change in the San Gabriel River

TA for Ge121a: Advanced Field Geology 
Fall 2019
Helped to organized a 9-day field trip to Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana to collect hydraulic datasets, suspended sediment, and sediment cores and assisted students in subsequent labwork and data processing

TA for Ge136abc: Regional Geology of the Southwest United States
Fall 2018, Winter and Spring 2019
Planned and led 3-4 day field trips to Owens Valley, Southern Nevada and Utah to expose students to sites of geological interest


Awards

Outstanding Student Paper Award (OSPA) Honorable Mention
2020 Fall Meeting, Earth Surface Processes
American Geophysical Union award for outstanding student research and poster presentations

Outstanding Student Paper Award (OSPA)
2019 Fall Meeting, Earth Surface Processes

National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) Seed Project
2017 Student Seed Proposal Winner
40 sq. km of LIDAR flown in Death Valley, California

National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship
Spring 2017

W. O. Crosby Award for Sustained Excellence in EAPS
Spring 2016
recognition of academic and intellectual achievement as well as contributions to the department

Outstanding Student Paper Award (OSPA)
2015 Fall Meeting, Planetary Science

John Mather Nobel Scholarship
Summer 2015
$3000 grant for selected NASA Goddard interns to present research at scientific conferences

EAPS Achievement Award
Spring 2015
recognition of high GPA, academic achievement, and departmental contribution

ExxonMobil Recruiter Nominated Grant for $5000
Spring 2014


Extracurricular Activities

Caltech – Occidental Wind Orchestra: Fall 2017 – Present

Caltech Chamber Music Program: Fall 2017 – Present

MIT Varsity Women’s Fencing: Fall 2012-Spring 2016
MIT Women’s Fencing Team MVP – Spring 2016; MIT COOP Athlete of the Week – Winter 2016; Squad Leader – Fall 2014-Spring 2016

MIT Symphony Orchestra: Fall 2012-Spring 2016

MIT Music Department Emerson Scholar: Fall 2012-Spring 2016

Alpha Chi Omega, Theta Omicron Chapter: Fall 2013-Spring 2016