Graduate Research Assistant - Institute of Science Tokyo, School of Life Science & Technology and Earth-Life Science Institute (Japan)

Blue Marble Space Insitute of Science - YSP Participant 

NASA Ames Research Center, ExCALiBR Team - Graduate Research Assistant

Ellen is a geomicrobiologist with a Bachelor's in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is interested in mineral composition and its impacts on lipid preservation in extreme environments, more specifically, the influence of iron-bearing minerals on lipid deposition in the rock record. She works with Shawn McGlynn, Mary Beth Wilhelm (NASA Ames), and Scott Perl (UCLA-EPSS) to characterize the lipid biomarker profiles and preservation mechanisms of two Mars analog sites: the Okuoku Hachikurou (OHK) hot spring in Akita prefecture, Japan. She is utilizing the OHK Fe-rich hot spring and hypersaline springs as temporal proxies for the evolution of fossilized lipids to develop an analytical framework for comparing preservation potential across varying geochemical datasets. The primary goal of her work is to inform our interpretation of lipid preservation throughout Mars' transitory climate history.

Post-Doctoral Associate, 

NASA Ames & UCLA 

Geomicrobiology Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

Devan is a geosciences PhD candidate in the Onstott Lab at Princeton University, and she is interested in understanding the hydrogeochemical history of deep subsurface brines and how brine geochemistry can influence microbial habitability and metabolic diversity. She is currently working with Dr. TC Onstott and Dr. Scott Perl on a Strategic University Research Partnership to investigate the unique abiotic (prebiotic?) geochemical signatures of a hypersaline brine in the deep subsurface of South Africa’s Witwatersrand Basin, and how this brine environment may serve as an analog for understanding biomarker preservation, microbial mobility, and microbial metabolic strategies in brine environments on Mars and beyond.   

University of California, Riverside

College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biophysics

Taylor is first year Biophysics Ph.D. student at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). She is interested in studying life in extreme environments and planetary analogue environments (saline lakes, hydrothermal vents, and hot springs) using nanopore sequencing and Raman spectroscopy. She is interested in studying environments and microorganisms that correlate to the types of environments and microorganisms that might be found on planets and moons like Mars, Europa, and Enceladus. Taylor is currently working with Dr. Kevin Freedman from UCR Bioengineering (Ion Lab) and Dr. Scott M Perl from UCLA-EPSS. Taylor earned her undergraduate degree from Whitworth University in Biology (B.S.) where she did undergraduate research in the Physics & Engineering department in the Microdevices Lab. 

Medical Lab Scientist - Bureau of Public Health Labs, Department of Health, Tampa

St. Petersburg College, Clearwater

Researcher - Natural Sciences Department

Adam is a microbiologist with a Bachelors in Cell and Molecular Biology from St. Petersburg College. He is currently working at the Florida Department of Health, and as a researcher at St. Petersburg College under the mentorship of Dr. Shannon Ulrich. His undergraduate research has focused on exposing halophilic archaea to subsurface Mars-like conditions. He is continuing this research in collaboration with Dr. Scott Perl. They seek to investigate changes in the composition of haloarchaeal cells and biofilm exposed to Mars-like conditions using Raman spectroscopy. The primary goal of this research is to explore the possibility of discovering extinct or extant life on Mars today.

Doctoral Student, AstrobiologyOU Research Group, School of Earth, Environment and Ecosystems Sciences, The Open University

British Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Fellow

Bea is a geochemist Ph.D. candidate in the AstrobiologyOU Research Group at The Open University. Her main interest is in understanding the interaction between life and the environment through time and space. Her Ph.D. is embedded in a NASA-funded consortium research team investigating the Colorado Plateau, including Dr. Scott Perl, Dr. Justin Filiberto (PI), Dr. Susanne Schwenzer, Prof. Karen Olsson-Francis, Dr. Sally Potter-McIntyre and Dr. Jake Crandall. She specializes in field investigation and thermochemical modelling for the reconstruction of reaction pathways to aid in setting constraints on the habitability potential of planetary analog sites.  

University of California, Santa Barbara

Doctoral Student, Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology

National Science Foundation - Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Jose holds a B.A. in Biology and is starting his future doctorate in Microbiology. Jose's main goal is to investigate and understand specific extreme microorganisms ("extremophiles") that inhabit planetary analogue environments such as saline lakes, hot springs, and hydrothermal vents. Jose uses these studies to bridge gaps between observational biosignatures and microbiological exchanges in the environment within the many biomes the world possesses. Recently, Jose has become interested in the metabolisms of the microorganisms that are residing in these extreme environments. 

Montana State Universeity

Doctoral Student, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Research Associate, Young Scientist Program, Blue Marble Space Institute of Science (BMSIS)

Madeline is interested in applying molecular and microbiological techniques for the identification and characterization of life in extreme environments. By studying analog environments, scientists can better understand the techniques needed for searching for life on other worlds. She is also interested in the utilization of microbiomes and plant production for life sustaining systems. Madeline will be starting her doctorate studies in the Fall of 2021. 

California State University Long Beach 

Undergraduate Student, Department of Biological Sciences

Meghan is characterizing geological samples from hypersaline brines through the isolation and extraction of DNA, RNA, and proteins. These brine samples are from mineral-brine field sites that range in age from modern/surface settings to geologically old samples dated to be ~253 Myr. and are of great interest as homologs to the Martian hypersaline evaporite mineral environment. Meghan is currently a senior honors Microbiology undergraduate at CSU- Long Beach and conducts halophilic virus characterization research with Dr. Jesse Dillon. 

STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) Program

Paulina is a STAR fellow who holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Spanish from San Diego State University and just recently graduated with her Bilingual Single Subject Teaching Credential in Biological Sciences also from San Diego State University. Her STAR and education-focused research is entitled “What Does It Take To Make A Biosignature?”. Through her project, she will assess the gene expressions of in-situ samples from hypersaline brine sites and their associated DNA, RNA, and protein profiles from preserved microbial community sources. As a future STEM teacher, Paulina strives to translate her research experience into a stimulating and rigorous curriculum for her future classroom so that her students are constantly investigating and asking questions about everyday phenomena and engage in meaningful science and engineering practices.