Research Appointments:

• 08/2022 – present: Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometrist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• 07/2014 – 08/2022: Academic Ion Microprobe Specialist, University of California, Los Angeles
• 01/2012 – 06/2014: Assistant Research Fellow (Assistant Professor equivalent), Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics
• 08/2010 – 08/2011: Postdoctoral researcher, Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, and Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics
• 08/2008 – 08/2010: Postdoctoral researcher, Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Research Interests:

Ming-Chang Liu’s research focus is to obtain a better understanding of the origins and distributions of various isotopic anomalies in meteoritic inclusions and returned asteroidal materials, and of the Sun’s isotopic compositions in several elements, all of which are being funded through a combination of NASA and internal LLNL LDRD grants. In addition to cosmochemical research, he has also played a key role in several geochemistry research projects that tried to understand with SIMS data the conditions of early Earth, how life might have emerged on Earth, the migration histories of fishes, and methane fluxes in the current marine environments. Currently he is involved in SIMS analyses of material to help with nuclear forensics.

Ph.D., 2008, Geochemistry & Cosmochemistry, UCLA, Los Angeles, California

Select publications (for a full publication list, please see Google Scholar)

1. Zhang, B., Lehnert, K. A., Rubin, A. E., McKeegan, K. D., Warren, P. H., Mays, J. L., Profeta, L. R., Johansson, A. K., Ni, P., Young, E. D., Kyte, F. T., Liu, M.-C., Dunham, E. T., Tang, H., Ji, P. and Figueora-Salazar, J. D. 2023, The UCLA Cosmochemistry Database. Scientific Data, 10, 874. 

2. Torrano, Z. A. and Hayabusa2 initital analysis team including Liu, M.-C., 2023, Neodymium-142 Deficits and Samarium Neutron Stratigraphy of C-type Asteroid (162173) Ryugu. Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14109. 

3. Bizzarro, M. and Hayabusa2 initital analysis team including Liu, M.-C., 2023, The Magnesium Isotope Composition of Samples Returned from Asteroid Ryugu. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 958, L25. 

4. Yokoyama, T. and Hayabusa2 initital analysis team including Liu, M.-C., 2023, Water Circulation in Ryugu Asteroid Affected the Distribution of Nucleosynthetic Isotope Anomalies in Returned Sample. Science Advances, 9, eadi7048. 

5. Barlow, E. V., House, C. H., Liu, M.-C., Wetherington, M. T., and Van Kranendonk, M. J. 2023, Distinctive Microfossil Supports Early Paleoproterozoic Rise in Complex Cellular Organisation. Geobiology, https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12576. 

6. Tang, H. and Hayabusa2 initital analysis team including Liu, M.-C., 2023, The Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Samples Returned from Asteroid Ryugu with Implications for the Nature of the Parent Planetesimal. The Planetary Science Journal, 4, 144. 

7. Fujiya, W. and Hayabusa2 initital analysis team including Liu, M.-C., 2023, Carbonate Record of Temporal Change in Oxygen Fugacity and Gaseous Species in Asteroid Ryugu. Nature Geosciences, 16, 675–682. 

8. Nguyen, A. and Hayabusa2 initital analysis team including Liu, M.-C., 2023, Abundant Presolar Grains and Primordial Organics Preserved in Carbon-rich Exogenous Clasts in Asteroid Ryugu. Science Advances, 9, eadh1003. 

9. Dunham, E. T., Sheikh, A., Opara, D., Matsuda, N., Liu, M.-C. and McKeegan, K. D. 2023, Calcium-aluminum-rich Inclusions in Non-carbonaceous Chondrites: Abundances, Sizes, and Min- eralogy. Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13975. 

10. Greenwood, R. C., Findlay, R. M., Steele, R. C. J., Shaw, K. M. M., Morton, E., Savage, P. S., Murphy, M. E., Rehkampler, M., Franchi, I. A., Elliott, T., Suttle, M. D., King, A. J., Anand, M., Malley, J., Howard, K. T., Zhao, X., Johnson, D., Liu, M.-C., McCain, K. A., Stephan, N. R., 2023, The Formation and Aqueous Alteration of CM2 Chondrites and Their Relationship to CO3 Chondrites: A Fresh Isotopic (O, Cd, Cr, Si, Te, Ti, and Zn) Perspective from the Winchcombe CM2 Fall. Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13968. 

12. Tomioka, N., Yamaguchi, A., Ito, M., Uesugi, M., Imae, N., Shirai, N., Ohigashi, T., Kimura, M., Liu, M.-C., and 31 coauthors, 2023, A History of Mild Shocks Experienced by the Regolith Particles on Hydrated Asteroid Ryugu. Nature Astronomy, 7, 669–677. 

13. Piani, L. and Hayabusa2 initital analysis team including Liu, M.-C., 2023, Hydrogen Isotopic Com- position of Hydrous Minerals in Asteroid Ryugu. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 946, L43. 

14. Yamaguchi, A., Tomioka, N., Ito, M., Shirai, N., Kimura, M., Greenwood, R. C., Liu, M.-C., and 27 coauthors, 2023, Insight into Multi-step Geological Evolution of C-type Asteroids from Ryugu Particles. Nature Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-01925-x. 

15. Liu, M.-C., Chaussidon, M. and Matsuda, N. 2023, Lithium and Boron Isotopic Compositions of Olivine in Chondrules from Carbonaceous and Ordinary Chondrite Meteorites: Implications for the Origin of Solar 11B/10B ratio. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 341, 150–163. 

16. McCain, K. A.∗, Matsuda, N.∗, Liu, M.-C., et al. 2023, Early Fluid Activity on RyuguInferred by Isotopic Analyses of Carbonates and Magnetite. Nature Astronomy, 7, 309–317. 

17. Paquet, M. and 123 coauthors including Liu, M.-C., 2023, Contribution of Ryugu-like Material to EarthÕsVolatileInventorybyCuandZnIsotopicAnalysis.NatureAstronomy,7,182–189. 

18. Greenwood, R. C. and 41 coauthors including Liu, M.-C., 2023, Oxygen Isotope Evidence from Ryugu Samples for Early Water Delivery to Earth by CI Chondrites. Nature Astronomy, 7, 29–38. 

19. Cavole, L. M., Limburg, K. E., Gallo, N. D., Salvanes, A. G. V., Ramrez-Valdez, A., Levin, L. A., Oropeza, O. A., Hertwig, A., Liu, M.-C. and McKeegan, K. D. 2023, Otoliths of Marine Fishes Record Evidence of Low Oxygen, Temperature and pH Conditions of Deep Oxygen Minimum Zones. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 191, 103941.