A sixth-grade science olympiad event at Marie Murphy School set Mia Jane "MJ" Moline on a path that led, 10 years later, to presenting NASA-funded Mars research at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Moline, a Northfield native and New Trier High School alumna, received a $45,000 NASA EPSCoR grant as a junior at the University of Vermont to build a machine learning protocol that maps mineral compositions on Mars. She and co-collaborator Sky Boiros presented their findings to a panel of NASA scientists in May 2026, The Record North Shore reported.
Her research combines data from two NASA instruments that had never been fully integrated: the Mars Curiosity Rover's drill-sample analyses at Gale Crater and satellite imagery from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Moline's algorithm converts orbiter images into individual pixels, sorts them into mineral groupings, then uses rover data to confirm accuracy.
She started the project as a sophomore in fall 2023 without funding.
"People think this is weird when I say it, but I was kind of just doing it as a hobby or for fun because it was interesting," Moline told The Record.
The spark came at Marie Murphy, the Avoca School District 37 middle school on Illinois Road in Wilmette that serves families in Northfield, Wilmette, Winnetka, and Glenview. When Moline joined the school's science olympiad team in sixth grade, coach James Gravagna assigned her the geology event.
Gravagna, who still coaches the team, told The Record that Moline's undergraduate research didn't surprise him. "Just going all in as an undergrad to do that kind of research is phenomenal," he said. "That's normally masters, PhD level kind of research."
Marie Murphy's science olympiad program remains a pipeline for STEM talent feeding into New Trier. The team placed sixth nationally at the 2026 Science Olympiad National Tournament at USC on Saturday, May 23. New Trier's team placed ninth in the high school division at the same event.
Moline's long-term goal is to map the mineral composition of Mars' entire surface and extend the methodology to planets where rovers cannot travel. She is moving to Iceland this fall for graduate school and working on a publication about the research.
Her end goal, though, is to come full circle. Moline said she wants to become a middle school science teacher.
North Shore schools week ahead
- Tuesday, Aug. 4–Thursday, Aug. 6: New Trier Common App Workshops, Northfield Campus. Additional session Thursday, Aug. 13.
- Thursday, Aug. 6: Avoca District 37 Committee of the Whole / Board Retreat.
- Tuesday, Aug. 11: New Trier District 203 Board of Education Finance Committee Meeting.
- Monday, Aug. 17: New Trier District 203 Board of Education Meeting, Northfield Campus, Room C234.
- Wednesday, Aug. 19: New Trier first day of student attendance.
- Thursday, Aug. 20: Avoca District 37 Board of Education Regular Meeting.
Meeting times for the Avoca District 37 and New Trier board sessions have not been posted. Check avoca37.org and newtrier.k12.il.us for updates.
