Veronica Hegelein

Biography

Veronica Hegelein graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in astrophysics and a minor in atmospheric and oceanic sciences in June 2022, during which she did ocean biogeochemistry research on the biological and biogeochemical impacts of submesoscale coherent vortices within the North Pacific. Her current research interests are the intersection of astrobiology and oceanography, particularly involving the search for life within icy ocean moons such as Europa and Enceladus. At Cornell, Veronica will be working with Professor Britney Schmidt to analyze the oceanic cavity beneath the Ross Ice Shelf using data from the ROV Icefin. Understanding more about the water column structure and ecosystem beneath Antarctic ice shelves allows these regions to potentially be used as analogs for other icy ocean worlds in our solar system.