BE ADVISED: On Saturday 10/12, the Los Angeles Coliseum will host the USC vs. Penn State football game. Kickoff is at 12:30pm. This event will impact traffic, parking, and wayfinding in the area due to street closures. Please consider riding the Metro E (Expo) Line and exiting at USC/Expo station.

Aaron Celestian

Curator, Mineral Sciences
Aaron is sitting at the Raman spectrometer with the green laser illuminating his hand and the sample in the microscope.

Dr. Celestian’s currently researches how minerals interact with their environments and with living things, and how those minerals can be used to solve problems like climate change, pollution, and disease.  His on-going research in experimental design, real-time material characterization, mineral discovery & application, and the functionalization of minerals is developing novel nano-crystalline Earth materials into functional materials for a wide variety of demanding applications.  Dr. Celestian holds adjunct teaching and research faculty positions at the University of Southern California and is an Affiliate Research Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  In addition to research, Dr. Celestian oversees the Gem & Mineral Hall at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and regularly develops mineral science exhibits.