Alongside the research, I put real time into outreach and engagement. The short version lives on this page, mentorship, media, and IsoCamp. The full record is in my CV (PDF).
Youth mentorship
I mentor student researchers through the LPI Summer Intern Program (2024–2026), working with Sadie DiCarlo (2024), Brayden Lipscomb (2025), and Leon Kelly (2026). DiCarlo and Lipscomb presented their projects at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in 2025 and 2026.
In partnership with the Bosque School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I also run an annual research mentorship program for high-school students. The program builds on an established framework in the environmental sciences that I have expanded to research questions focused on planetary materials and lunar samples. Students take part in every stage of the scientific workflow, sample preparation, laboratory analysis, data interpretation, and professional research products. As a capstone, students prepare and submit abstracts to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), producing citable contributions and presenting their work within the international planetary science community. In 2026, with Daniel Shaw and Brynne Jojola Mount, we established the Earth and Planetary Sciences capstone course.
IsoCamp
IsoCamp is a two-week intensive course in stable isotope biogeochemistry hosted at the UNM Center for Stable Isotopes, drawing students and researchers from the biological, geological, and anthropological sciences. Participants work through the full analytical workflow, lectures from leaders in the field, sample preparation, and hands-on operation of isotope ratio mass spectrometers, organized around group projects. I have served as a laboratory instructor and project group leader annually since 2022.
Student researchers
Violet Delu
Research mentee, Bosque School, Albuquerque
Violet is studying metal-graphite-silicate relationships in the ureilite Kenna using microtomography, and presents the work at LPSC 2026 (Delu & Gargano).
Brooklyn Bird
Undergraduate student, University of New Mexico
Brooklyn began this project as a Bosque School research mentee. She is characterizing endogenous alteration features in the fayalite-rich lunar meteorites NWA 14341 and 15192, and presents the work at LPSC 2026 (Bird & Gargano).
Andrea Thompson
Undergraduate student, University of New Mexico
Drea is a recent addition to the UNM EPS undergraduate program. She is interested in a wide-range of topics from environmental and planetary science.
Leon Kelly
Undergraduate student, Duke University
Leon was an LPI Summer Intern in 2026 and is an undergraduate student at Duke University. He will soon start a PhD program with Gordon Osinski.
In the media
- “UNM, NASA scientists find depletion of halogens due to Giant Impact,” University of New Mexico News, on Gargano et al. (2020), PNAS.
- “UNM researchers analyze Moon record, challenging Earth’s water origins,” University of New Mexico News, on Gargano et al. (2026), PNAS.
- “A new study of lunar rocks suggests Earth’s water might not have come from meteorites,” Phys.org / Universe Today, on Gargano et al. (2026), PNAS.
- “Where did Earth’s water come from? Clues hidden in Apollo Moon dust,” Planetary Radio, The Planetary Society, on Gargano et al. (2026), PNAS.
Contact
Tony (Anthony) Gargano, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Center for Stable Isotopes, University of New Mexico
For outreach and professional inquiries please contact me via email at agargano@unm.edu