This month, I successfully defended my Master's thesis, and otherwise finished all substantial requirements for a graduate degree in Geology. The diploma comes in December, but in practical terms I'm finished.

My research involved the development of new methods for investigating ~3.5 billion year old sedimentary rocks. This gave me a much better window in to the biological activity of microbial mats that were preserved during this time, with enough detail to meaningfully constrain their ecological behavior and environmental influences. This is a good step towards work on future Mars rover missions, or in further lab work in national astrobiology initiatives.

On a personal note, this is an especially important milestone to me, because I am coming to it from a significant personal nadir. Five years ago, I was working a full-time retail job, having graduated with a 2.x in a non-science undergraduate degree. Being accepted to a good research program for astrobiology was quite a trick; they barely even let me on campus. It is a very good feeling to have 'become awesome' from such a position, even if it is no different from any other Master's degree in absolute significance.