Arts & Sciences degree candidate Bethany Ehlmann looks at Mars rover data with Raymond E. Arvidson, Ph.D., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. Washington University continues to make critical contributions to Mars-related research and space exploration projects, including the current missions featuring the rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Arvidson is serving as deputy principal scientist for the highly successful missions. Ehlmann and Allison Gilmore, also an Arts & Sciences degree candidate, won Rhodes Scholarships to attend Oxford University this fall. Ehlmann spent most of the spring semester at the JPL working with Arvidson and other NASA personnel via a directed independent-study project.