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A prolific year of student-led Mars research supervised by 91��ɫ Professor Isaac Smith reflects more than academic productivity. It highlights an approach built on giving graduate students the freedom to pursue their own ideas.

Earlier this year, while updating his CV, Smith realized he had far more to add than expected. More strikingly, unlike previous years, he noticed that every new publication resulted from research led by students in his lab, which explores ice and climate processes on Mars.

In less than seven months, ten papers led by members of Smith's research group have been published. In a typical year, students nearing graduation might publish one or two papers as their projects come together. “This year we're doubling that easily,” says Smith, who teaches at the . “I thought, ‘Holy cow, I’m not used to this many in such a short amount of time.’”

The accomplishment reflects both the ambition of Smith's graduate students and his approach to supervision, which emphasizes giving them ownership over their work. That process starts when Smith first interviews prospective students and works to understand what they want to study. He then identifies projects that match those interests as closely as possible.

Helping them find that fit is easier because of the wide range of research questions Smith has pursued. Unlike Earth, Mars has two types of ice, water and carbon dioxide, which behave differently, increasing the number of interesting phenomena to study. Through his lab, Smith has spent years investigating Mars from multiple angles, studying everything from glaciers and polar ice caps to climate processes, ice crystal growth, surface-atmospheric interactions, radar signals and the behaviour of ice under Martian conditions.

Addressing those questions often requires students to develop their own tools and methods through laboratory work, field studies, modelling and the analysis of spacecraft data.

“I've published enough now that I can start picking different lanes,” he says. “I really enjoy having students help with that.”

Through this approach, Smith's students have collectively advanced understanding of some of the most significant unknowns surrounding ice on Mars, such as understanding the distribution of buried ice and the history of climate. The published work was led by graduate students and recent graduates, including Ivan Mishev, Kasra Fard, Jamie Isen, Abi Madden, Chimira Andres, Pruthvi Acharya, Akhila Nair and Rushana Karimova, who explored different aspects of the Martian cryosphere.

Their publications investigate how glaciers may have formed and moved across the planet, how polar ice deposits evolved over time, how radar can be used to detect subsurface ice or climate signals and how different forms of ice respond to Martian conditions.  

Smith empowered his students to develop the skills needed to tackle complex scientific questions, whether through modelling, data analysis or laboratory work. But, he says, it was equally important to him that they grow into confident researchers.

It's an approach that students say has helped them find their footing as emerging planetary scientists.

One is Mishev, a PhD candidate, whose recent publication was part of a collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency examining how synthetic aperture radar could be used to detect ice near the Martian surface, a capability that could support future human exploration of the planet.

“He is always available if I need some guidance or help with motivation,” says Mishev. “But he has also allowed me to work through things independently, which I appreciate.”

Smith gives students room to generate and test ideas, which he considers fundamental to becoming a scientist.

“One of my favourite teaching models is to get out of their way,” he says. “They're going to have their own ideas, and I do not stifle that.”

Smith points to one of the first graduate students he supervised, Pruthvi Acharya, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nevada, Reno, as an example of that philosophy in action. Acharya regularly brought new ideas to the lab each day. While many didn't work out, Smith encouraged Acharya – and his other students – to continue asking questions and testing possibilities.

Over time, that helped create a culture where experimentation, curiosity and mistakes were viewed as essential parts of scientific discovery.

That mindset has helped shape the environment that led to this year's remarkable run of student-led papers. “If you don’t have good ideas, you’re not going to have a good research output,” he says.

For the early-stage researchers, the rewards extend beyond the publication achievement.

“It felt really satisfying to publish my work,” says Mishev. “The impact on my confidence and future outlook has been large.”

The study has already strengthened his future prospects. As he explores postdoctoral opportunities, Mishev says having published work has proven invaluable when reaching out to potential supervisors.

For Mishev, however, what matters most is the chance to contribute new knowledge to the field.

“The thing I'm most proud of in this work is the contribution it will make to a potential future synthetic aperture radar mission to Mars,” he says. “I hope that it will be pointed to in the future and really contribute to getting this mission to fly. Getting to contribute this early to a potential future mission is really rewarding.”

For Smith, there is a similar sense of satisfaction in seeing students succeed. Reflecting on their accomplishments, he describes his studentsa group of researchers who pursued challenging questions, developed their own ideas and helped advance understanding of Mars.

“I am very proud of them,” he says.

Learn more about the students and their .

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