CHM 0208
Chemistry Building
8051 Regents Drive
College Park, MD 20742

hellmann [at] umd [dot] edu

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I have a strong interest in deepening our understanding of the formation and evolution of the early Solar System, as well as the accretion and differentiation history of Earth. In particular, my research aims to address the questions: 

• What were the dominant mixing and fractionation processes in the earliest stages of Solar System history, and what is the chronology of these events?
• What are the formation and thermal evolution paths of asteroids and their precursors?
• How, when, and where did planetary building blocks accrete to form Earth and other planetary bodies?
• What is the geochemical evolution of Earth’s crust and mantle?

To elucidate these questions, I search for isotopic variations and chemical signatures in meteorites and their components, as well as in terrestrial rocks. Specifically, I combine radiometric dating (chronology), mass-independent isotope anomalies of nucleosynthetic origin (tracers of the genetic heritage), and elemental and mass-dependent isotope fractionations (tracers of kinetic and equilibrium processes) to address when, where, and how nebular and planetary processes took place.