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Planetary Geologist
  • Ph.D., Geology
    2021, North Carolina State University
  • B.A., Geology
    2012, Wheaton College, IL

Mallory Kinczyk is a planetary geologist and postdoctoral research fellow at APL. Her research focuses on investigating the geological evolution of heavily cratered surfaces across the Solar System. She uses techniques such as image analysis, spatial statistics, and structural numerical modeling to tie surface morphology to underlying processes such as tectonic- and impact-driven modification of planetary bodies. Dr. Kinczyk has been involved in several past and present NASA missions including as a team affiliate of MESSENGER and New Horizons, and is currently an affiliate of the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter Camera (LROC) and a Co-Investigator on ShadowCam, a NASA-contributed instrument to the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter.

Notable Awards and Leadership

Year(s) Description
2023 Mercury Exploration Analysis Group (MExAG) Steering Committee
2022 NASA JPL Planetary Science Summer School (Principal Investigator)
2018-2020 Geological Society of America Planetary Geology Division Student Advisor
2019 North Carolina Space Grant Graduate Research Fellowship
2016 North Carolina State University Graduate Fellowship

Scholarly Publications

Calibration of ShadowCam

Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences, 2023
David Carl Humm, Mallory Janet Kinczyk, Scott Michael Brylow, Robert Vernon Wagner, Emerson Jacob Speyerer, Nicholas Michael Estes, Prasun Mahanti, Aaron Kyle Boyd, Mark Southwick Robinson, (2023), Calibration of ShadowCam, Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences

A morphological evaluation of crater degradation on Mercury: Revisiting crater classification with MESSENGER data

Icarus, 2020
Mallory J. Kinczyk, Louise M. Prockter, Paul K. Byrne, Hannah C.M. Susorney, Clark R. Chapman, (2020), A morphological evaluation of crater degradation on Mercury: Revisiting crater classification with MESSENGER data, Icarus, 341, 113637, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113637

The geology and geophysics of Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

Science, 2020
J. R. Spencer and S. A. Stern and J. M. Moore and H. A. Weaver and K. N. Singer and C. B Olkin and A. J. Verbiscer and W. B. McKinnon and J. Wm. Parker and R. A. Beyer and J. T. Keane and T. R. Lauer and S. B. Porter and O. L. White and B. J. Buratti and M. R. El-Maarry and C. M. Lisse and A. H. Parker and H. B. Throop and S. J. Robbins and O. M. Umurhan and R. P. Binzel and D. T. Britt and M. W. Buie and A. F. Cheng and D. P. Cruikshank and H. A. Elliott and G. R. Gladstone and W. M. Grundy and M. E. Hill and M. Horanyi and D. E. Jennings and J. J. Kavelaars and I. R. Linscott and D. J. McComas and R. L. McNutt and S. Protopapa and D. C. Reuter and P. M. Schenk and M. R. Showalter and L. A. Young and A. M. Zangari and A. Y. Abedin and C. B. Beddingfield and S. D. Benecchi and E. Bernardoni and C. J. Bierson and D. Borncamp and V. J. Bray and A. L. Chaikin and R. D. Dhingra and C. Fuentes and T. Fuse and P. L Gay and S. D. J. Gwyn and D. P. Hamilton and J. D. Hofgartner and M. J. Holman and A. D. Howard and C. J. A. Howett and H. Karoji and D. E. Kaufmann and M. Kinczyk and B. H. May and M. Mountain and M. Pätzold and J. M. Petit and M. R. Piquette and I. N. Reid and H. J. Reitsema and K. D. Runyon and S. S. Sheppard and J. A. Stansberry and T. Stryk and P. Tanga and D. J. Tholen and D. E. Trilling and L. H. Wasserman, (2020), The geology and geophysics of Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth, Science, 367, 6481, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay3999

The thickness of radar-bright deposits in Mercury's northern hemisphere from individual Mercury Laser Altimeter tracks

Icarus, 2019
Hannah C.M. Susorney, Peter B. James, Catherine L. Johnson, Nancy L. Chabot, Carolyn M. Ernst, Erwan M. Mazarico, Gregory A. Neumann, Mallory L. Kinczyk, (2019), The thickness of radar-bright deposits in Mercury's northern hemisphere from individual Mercury Laser Altimeter tracks, Icarus, 323, 40--45, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2019.01.016

Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt object

Science, 2019
S. A. Stern, H. A. Weaver, J. R. Spencer, C. B. Olkin, G. R. Gladstone, W. M. Grundy, J. M. Moore, D. P. Cruikshank, H. A. Elliott, W. B. McKinnon, J. Wm. Parker, A. J. Verbiscer, L. A. Young, D. A. Aguilar, J. M. Albers, T. Andert, J. P. Andrews, F. Bagenal, M. E. Banks, B. A. Bauer, J. A. Bauman, K. E. Bechtold, C. B. Beddingfield, N. Behrooz, K. B. Beisser, S. D. Benecchi, E. Bernardoni, R. A. Beyer, S. Bhaskaran, C. J. Bierson, R. P. Binzel, E. M. Birath, M. K. Bird, D. R. Boone, A. F. Bowman, V. J. Bray, D. T. Britt, L. E. Brown, M. R. Buckley, M. W. Buie, B. J. Buratti, L. M. Burke, S. S. Bushman, B. Carcich, A. L. Chaikin, C. L. Chavez, A. F. Cheng, E. J. Colwell, S. J. Conard, M. P. Conner, C. A. Conrad, J. C. Cook, S. B. Cooper, O. S. Custodio, C. M. Dalle Ore, C. C. Deboy, P. Dharmavaram, R. D. Dhingra, G. F. Dunn, A. M. Earle, A. F. Egan, J. Eisig, M. R. El-Maarry, C. Engelbrecht, B. L. Enke, C. J. Ercol, E. D. Fattig, C. L. Ferrell, T. J. Finley, J. Firer, J. Fischetti, W. M. Folkner, M. N. Fosbury, G. H. Fountain, J. M. Freeze, L. Gabasova, L. S. Glaze, J. L. Green, G. A. Griffith, Y. Guo, M. Hahn, D. W. Hals, D. P. Hamilton, S. A. Hamilton, J. J. Hanley, A. Harch, K. A. Harmon, H. M. Hart, J. Hayes, C. B. Hersman, M. E. Hill, T. A. Hill, J. D. Hofgartner, M. E. Holdridge, M. Horányi, A. Hosadurga, A. D. Howard, C. J. A. Howett, S. E. Jaskulek, D. E. Jennings, J. R. Jensen, M. R. Jones, H. K. Kang, D. J. Katz, D. E. Kaufmann, J. J. Kavelaars, J. T. Keane, G. P. Keleher, M. Kinczyk, M. C. Kochte, P. Kollmann, S. M. Krimigis, G. L. Kruizinga, D. Y. Kusnierkiewicz, M. S. Lahr, T. R. Lauer, G. B. Lawrence, J. E. Lee, E. J. Lessac-Chenen, I. R. Linscott, C. M. Lisse, A. W. Lunsford, D. M. Mages, V. A. Mallder, N. P. Martin, B. H. May, D. J. McComas, R. L. McNutt, D. S. Mehoke, T. S. Mehoke, D. S. Nelson, H. D. Nguyen, J. I. Núñez, A. C. Ocampo, W. M. Owen, G. K. Oxton, A. H. Parker, M. Pätzold, J. Y. Pelgrift, F. J. Pelletier, J. P. Pineau, M. R. Piquette, S. B. Porter, S. Protopapa, E. Quirico, J. A. Redfern, A. L. Regiec, H. J. Reitsema, D. C. Reuter, D. C. Richardson, J. E. Riedel, M. A. Ritterbush, S. J. Robbins, D. J. Rodgers, G. D. Rogers, D. M. Rose, P. E. Rosendall, K. D. Runyon, M. G. Ryschkewitsch, M. M. Saina, M. J. Salinas, P. M. Schenk, J. R. Scherrer, W. R. Schlei, B. Schmitt, D. J. Schultz, D. C. Schurr, F. Scipioni, R. L. Sepan, R. G. Shelton, M. R. Showalter, M. Simon, K. N. Singer, E. W. Stahlheber, D. R. Stanbridge, J. A. Stansberry, A. J. Steffl, D. F. Strobel, M. M. Stothoff, T. Stryk, J. R. Stuart, M. E. Summers, M. B. Tapley, A. Taylor, H. W. Taylor, R. M. Tedford, H. B. Throop, L. S. Turner, O. M. Umurhan, J. Van Eck, D. Velez, M. H. Versteeg, M. A. Vincent, R. W. Webbert, S. E. Weidner, G. E. Weigle, J. R. Wendel, O. L. White, K. E. Whittenburg, B. G. Williams, K. E. Williams, S. P. Williams, H. L. Winters, A. M. Zangari, T. H. Zurbuchen, (2019), Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt object, Science

Analysis of MESSENGER high-resolution images of Mercury's hollows and implications for hollow formation

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 2016
David T. Blewett, Amanda C. Stadermann, Hannah C. Susorney, Carolyn M. Ernst, Zhiyong Xiao, Nancy L. Chabot, Brett W. Denevi, Scott L. Murchie, Francis M. McCubbin, Mallory J. Kinczyk, Jeffrey J. Gillis-Davis, Sean C. Solomon, (2016), Analysis of MESSENGER high-resolution images of Mercury's hollows and implications for hollow formation, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 121, 9, 1798--1813, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016je005070