Scott M. Perl - Astrobiology and Geobiology Research

Students

Postdoctoral Opportunities, Ph.D. Student Research, and Internships

My graduate students, undergraduate students, and interns come from disciplines

including earth sciences/geology, microbiology, geobiology, mineralogy, and other

related fields to astrobiology. Interested students and advisors are encouraged to contact me.

Devan Nisson

Post-Doctoral Associate,
JPL Origins and Habitability Lab, NASA-JPL,
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.
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Taylor Burchard

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 NASA-JPL (OHL). 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.

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Adam Robinson

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.
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Bea Baharier

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.
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Jose Valera

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.
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Madeline Garner

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.
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Meghan Winzler

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.

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Paulina Cortez

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.
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Student Alumni

Breanna McMahon

California Institute of Technology
Dept. of Biology and Biological Engineering

Breanna is a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Biology at Caltech. She received her bachelor’s degree in Cellular & Molecular Biology from Princeton University. She is currently researching preservation methods of cellular life in brine systems and methods to extract biogenic evidence. Breanna’s projects include microbial assessment of nucleic acids and proteins in hypersaline systems, measurements of microbial communities in Li-enriched brine systems, and Raman spectroscopy of preserved cellular life.
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Jess Pavlik

The University of Tulsa
Bachelors of Science, Biological Sciences

Jess Pavlik is a biology student at the University of Tulsa. She is interested in the base of the biological pyramid of life and understanding how microbes interact with each other and the larger world to form stable ecological systems. In the OHL, Jess is measuring cellular structures and organics in icy world simulated brines and assessing biomarkers in Martian evaporate features. Moreover Jess will be generating a database for extreme environment microorganisms and their planetary analog specific features.
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Crystal Dang

Virginia Polytechnic and State University
Bachelors of Science in Microbiology, Department of Biological Sciences

As a virtual intern, Crystal is working on a literature database for microorganisms in their terrestrial extreme environments to align them with their respective planetary analogue environments. The purpose of this project is to determine measurable biogenic and biotic features with respect to planetary stresses for Mars subsurface life and psychrophilic microbes for Europa and Enceladus icy endoliths.

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Zac Cooper

University of Washington
Doctoral Candidate, Oceanography and Astrobiology

Zac is a doctoral candidate in the dual-title Ph.D. program in Oceanography and Astrobiology in the Deming Lab at the University of Washington. His dissertation research focuses on the ecology and evolution of microbial communities in subzero hypersaline brines in the Arctic using a combination of metagenomic and laboratory techniques. Zac is conducting a research rotation with Dr. Scott Perl where they will investigate organic biosignature detection using psychrophilic, halotolerant bacteria isolated from Martian- and Icy Moon-analog brine environments in the Arctic (cryopegs). Investigations include detection of biological pigments and other organics in subzero brines using Raman spectroscopy and motility detection, aimed at understanding the efficacy of biosignature detection using remote sampling technology.
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Jemma Dickson

College of the Atlantic
Undergraduate Student, Chemistry & Marine Biological Science

Jemma will be working on incorporating and isolating deep sea microbes into simulated hydrothermal vent chimneys under the Maine Space Grant program.
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Michelle Hooks

STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) Program

Michelle holds a bachelor’s in biology from Cal State Northridge and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California. She investigates the effects of organic molecules on Fe-silicate and Fe-hydroxide chemical garden systems. As a STAR fellow, she also translates ongoing scientific research at NASA-JPL into evidence-based curriculum for K-12 students.
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Wilson Jean-Baptiste

Howard University
Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering
(Co-advised with Keith Chin)

Wilson is working on characterizing geochemical samples using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and developing a database to identify these systems on missions. In the future he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in astrochemistry and study the thermodynamics of the interstellar medium.
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Sarah Crucilla

California Institute of Technology
Undergraduate Student, Geological and Planetary Sciences

Sarah is an undergraduate in Geological and Planetary Sciences at Caltech. She is working on studying the radiation effects of extremophile microbial communities in icy environments. Alongside this research, she is also utilizing microscopic and Raman techniques for understanding microbial motility and preservation in hypersaline brine environments. Her research interests also include how protein cofactors behave in early earth conditions and iron sulfide chemistry.
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Angel Chavez

University of California, Irvine
Undergraduate Student, Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science

Angel is interested in habitat sustainability for space missions as well as methane detections on Mars and CO2 processing of Martian atmosphere for both spacecraft and human usage for surviveablity and materials. Moreover Angel is interested in ISRU technologies that utilize regolith on Mars and the Moon for future human habitats.
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Taleen Mahseredjian

University of Southern California
Graduate Student, Department of Earth Sciences

Taleen analyzes carbon and oxygen isotope fluctuations in carbonate stromatolites to reconstruct the paleoclimate of the Eocene Climatic Optimum. Her research interests include microbe-sediment interactions, and the complex relationships between microbial nutrient cycling and the biosphere. Currently Taleen is a doctoral student with Dr. Elizabeth (Lizzy) Trower at the University of Colorado Boulder (http://www.trowerlab.com/people.html).
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Eduardo Martinez

California State University - Los Angeles
Graduate Student, Civil Engineering (Environmental focus)

Eduardo is working on simulating hydrothermal vents using inorganic and organic compounds and studying the adsorption of phosphate on Fe-hydroxide minerals in the presence of amino acids and nitrate.
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Erika Flores

California State University - Los Angeles
Graduate Student, Environmental Science

Erika is working on organic extractions and analysis of preserved biological samples. These samples range from modern time periods where DNA is preserved to geologically older samples where more robust organics remain. Erika's other research interests are in water remediation via Fe-hydroxide minerals to adsorb various types of pollutants in contaminated waters. These minerals are being investigated in prebiotic reactions which may help provide clues as to how life originated on Earth.
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Preston Tasoff

University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D. Student, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM).

Preston Tasoff is a PhD student in Jill Banfield and Eoin Brodie’s Laboratories at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research uses metagenome resolved genomic approaches coupled with biogeochemistry to explore microbiomes in the East River Watershed of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

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