WELCOME TO THE WEBPAGE OF GRACIELA MATRAJT

I work in the Department of Astronomy at the
University of Washington
mail:matrajt@astro.washington.edu

Here are some of my activities:

TEACHING

Here is the course webpage for the astrobiology class I am teaching at the Honors Program at the University of Washington . I teach this undergraduate interdisciplinary class since 2008.


Here is the guest lecture that I gave for the NASA Science and Engineering Research Seminar held at the Earth and Space Science department, University of Washington UW (ESS 495) entitled "Rocks and Stars", on May 1^st 2008.


Here is the guest lecture that I gave for the Science and Math Seminar Series Spring 2008 (SCI 298) held at the Seattle Central Community College on May 15^th 2008.


Here is the guest lecture that I gave for the Summer Science Program on June 30^th 2008.

OUTREACH TALKS

Here is the talk given at the "Stardust: mission accomplished" Workshop for Educators on April 12^th 2008.
Here is the talk given at the Everett Astronomical Society on March 29^th 2008.
Here is the talk given for the "Astronomy from the ground up" workshop organized by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, on May 8^th 2008.


RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS



• Matrajt G., Flynn G., Brownlee D., Joswiak D., and Bajt S. (2013). The Origin of the 3.4 micron Feature in Wild 2 Cometary Particles and Ultracarbonaceous Interplanetary Dust Particles. Astrophysical Journal 765:145-163. PDF


• Matrajt G., Messenger S., Brownlee D., and Joswiak D. (2012). Diverse forms of primordial organic matter identified in interplanetary dust particles. Meteoritics & Planetary Sciences 47(4):525-549. PDF


• Matrajt G., Ito M., Wirick S., Messenger S., Brownlee D., Joswiak D., Flynn G., Sandford S., Snead C., Westphal A. (2008). Carbon investigation of two Stardust particles: a TEM, NanoSIMS and XANES study. M&PS 43(1/2):315-334. PDF


• Matrajt G. and Brownlee D. (2006). Acrylic embedding of Stardust particles encased in aerogel. M&PS 41(11), 1715-1720. PDF


• Matrajt G., Guan Y., Leshin L., Taylor S., Genge M., Joswiak D., Brownlee D. (2006). Oxygen isotope measurements of bulk unmelted Antarctic micrometeorites. Geochimica et Cosmochim. Acta 70: 4007-4018. PDF


• Matrajt G., Brownlee D., Sadilek M., Kruse L. (2006). Survival of organic phases in porous IDPs during atmospheric entry: a pulse-heating study. M&PS 41(6), 903-911. PDF


• Muñoz-Caro, G. M., Matrajt, G., Dartois, E., d'Hendecourt, L., Deboffle, D., Montagnac, G., Chauvin, N., Boukari, C., and Le Du, C. (2006) Nature and evolution of carbonaceous matter in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs): Effects of irradiation and identification with a form of amorphous carbon. A&A. 459, 147-159. PDF


• Matrajt, G., Muñoz-Caro, G. M., Dartois, E., d'Hendecourt, L., Deboffle, D., and Borg, J. (2005) A quantitative FTIR analysis of the organics in IDPs: comparison with the IR spectra of the Diffuse Interstellar Medium. A&A 433, 979-995. PDF


• Matrajt G., Pizzarello, S., Taylor, S., and Brownlee, D. (2004) Concentration and variability of the AIB amino acid in Polar micrometeorites: implications for the exogenous delivery of amino acids to the primitive Earth. M&PS 39, 1849-1858. PDF


• Matrajt G., Borg, J., Raynal, P. I., Djouadi, Z., d'Hendecourt, L., Flynn, G., and Deboffle, D. (2004) FTIR and Raman analyses of the Tagish Lake meteorite: relationship with the aliphatic hydrocarbons observed in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium. A&A 416, 983-990. PDF


• Glavin, D., Matrajt, G., and Bada, J. L. (2004) A search for extraterrestrial amino acids in Antarctic micrometeorites: implications for the exogenous delivery of organic compounds. Adv Space Res. 33: 106-113. PDF


• Matrajt, G., and Blanot, D. (2004) Ferrihydrite in micrometeorites and the synthesis of prebiotic molecules on the early Earth. Amino Acids. 26(2):153-158 PDF


• Matrajt, G., Taylor, S., Flynn, G., Brownlee, D., and Joswiak, D. (2003) A nuclear microprobe study of the distribution and concentration of carbon and nitrogen in Murchison and Tagish Lake meteorites, Antarctic micrometeorites and IDPs: implications for astrobiology. M&PS 38: 1585-1600. PDF



Astrobiology Links

• ESA Astrobiology Network
• The internet encyclopedia of Science
• The Astrobiology web
• NASA Astrobiology
• Astrobiology magazine

Stardust Links

• JPL Stardust webpage
• NASA Stardust webpage

Bibliography databases

• NASA ADS data base
• Georef

Last update: March 1st 2013.