University of Edinburgh

Professor of Astrobiology & Director of the UK Centre for Astrobiology

Charles's research interests encompass the study of life in extreme environments, microbe-mineral interactions and the habitability of extraterrestrial environments.

Louisiana State University

Associate Professor, Geology & Geophysics

LSU Planetary Science Laboratory

Suniti's planetary science lab group focuses broadly on synthesizing remote sensing data at micro- and macro-scales to characterize geological processes. Related works, with a martian emphasis, span topics such as regional soil hydration and weathering; pathways of halogen volatility; subglacial melting from geothermal fluxes, etc. Computational applications of segmenting planetary soil images and multivariate hierarchical regression underlie such works. Analog field sites include a putative impact site in Louisiana and the serpentine zone in Sri Lanka. The latter is an emerging collaboration with Lankan research institutions, where Dr. Perl's expertise will illuminate key habitability aspects including Fe-oxidizing microbial mats in associated springs.

Los Angeles Natural History Museum

Researcher & Curator, Mineral Sciences

Aaron Celestian’s current research focuses on Earth materials and their synthetic analogues for environmental applications, bio-mineral interactions, and planetary sciences.  His work on planetary mineral systems is rooted in experimental design, real-time mineral characterization, and mineral discovery & application.  In addition to research, Dr. Celestian oversees the Gem & Mineral Hall at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and regularly develops mineral science exhibits seen by approximately one million visitors per year.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Planetary Science and Planetary Instrumentation

Sona Hosseini, Ph. D., is a planetary scientist and a technologist who studies the abundance, sources, and sinks of water in the lunar environment. She conceptualizes miniature high spectral resolution spectroscopic techniques to enable novel fundamental measurements suitable for deep space and small satellites in future NASA space missions.

California State University - Northridge

Professor of Cell Biology

Dr. Chhandak Basu is a Professor of Biology at California State University, Northridge. His research focuses on understanding the molecular, biological, and genomic aspects of abiotic stress tolerance mechanisms in microbes and plants in extreme environments. He is broadly trained on microbial and plant biotechnology, including the production of value-added compounds in plant and microbial cells. Dr. Basu currently collaborates with the Origins and Habitability Lab on astrobiology research, particularly studying gene expression patterns in extremophile microbes collected from planetary analog field sites. Dr. Basu’s collaborative research with JPL also involves biotechnological characterization of salt, ultra-violet rays, and heavy metal tolerance mechanisms in extremophile microbes.

Montana State University, Center for Biofilm Engineering

Distinguished Professor Chemical & Biological Engineering,

Women in Science Distinguished Professor,

Associate Dean for Student Success

The Foreman Research Group (www.foremanresearch.gov) studies life in icy environments using a combination of field and laboratory studies, as well as approaches ranging from the single cell to the community level. They are interested in understanding how microbes survive in extreme environments, investigating microbial biosignatures and validating life detection technologies.

Assistant Professor in Bioengineering,

University of California Riverside

Kevin’s research lies at the intersection of single entity (molecule or cell) biophysics and nanoscale device physics.  His lab focuses on label-free technology such as nanopore-based electrical sensing and single molecule Raman sensing.  In order to maximize robustness and sensitivity of these techniques, trapping techniques are also routinely used to measure single entities over a longer period of time. Kevin is interested in applying these technologies to astrobiology; specifically life detection and the characterization of extreme life here on earth.  

Professor, Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology

University of California, Santa Barbara

My research focuses on microbes involved in nutrient cycling in the ocean, especially of the element nitrogen. I am interested in cultivating new microbes and discovering novel ways of tracking their activity. This research combines laboratory experiments with field observations, and to date has used genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and stable isotope geochemistry as tools to uncover the activity of microbes in the mesopelagic ocean. A particular focus of the lab is the marine archaea, a largely uncultured group of microbes. Findings from our recent research include the discovery that archaea in the ocean can make the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, and that some marine archaea have exceptionally small genomes.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Research Technologist & Electrochemist 

Dr. Keith Chin holds BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering. His Ph.D. work at USC emphasized computational physics of solid-state materials combining phenomenological electrochemistry and molecular physics modeling. At JPL, the bulk of his research interests focus on the development and the infusion of energy storage, energy generation, and in-situ electrochemical instrumentation (development, modeling, and prototyping) technologies for a broad range of autonomous spacecraft systems from Cubesats to Flagship missions.  

Associate Professor, School of Earth Systems and Sustainability

Southern Illinois University 

Sally Potter-McIntyre is an astrobiologist and clastic sedimentologist who focuses on understanding subsurface fluid/rock/biota interactions in sedimentary rocks. She is a field geologist who uses terrestrial analogs to interpret similar processes on Mars. She earned her PhD. In 2013 at the University of Utah under the tutelage of Marjorie Chan. She is currently an associate professor in the School of Earth Systems and Sustainability at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL.

Scientist, Planetary & Exoplanetary Atmospheres

NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program 

Pin Chen collaborates with Scott in developing the AROC (Atmosphere-Rock-Ocean Chemistry) model to investigate potential biosignatures.  This model integrates atmospheric photochemistry and equilibrium aqueous chemistry to model coupled atmosphere-hydrosphere-lithosphere chemistry.  We envisage AROC representing the “planetary reactor,” which chemically processes biogenic gases to produce changes in atmospheric composition.  We aim to identify detectable atmospheric spectral signatures that potentially indicate habitability and/or life 

Professor Laureate, Eastern Illinois University, Geology and Geography Department

Dr. Crandall’s research interests lie in the exploration of volcanic terrestrial analogs for both Mars and Venus. Through the lenses of petrology, mineralogy, geochemistry, and spectroscopy, constraints can be placed on emplacement conditions, behaviors, alteration, and weathering patterns. Through the use of various analytical techniques, the detectability of magma-sediment alteration and the resolution of both in-situ and remote sensing analyses can also be explored. 

Westminster College

Professor of Biology & Director of the Great Salt Lake Institute 

Bonnie studies the microbial diversity of Great Salt Lake and is interested in halophiles as models for astrobiology. This led her to study the formation and persistence of microbialites in hypersaline waters. She and Scott are using Great Salt Lake as an analogue for ancient salt lakes on Mars.

Princeton University

Professor of Geosciences, Geomicrobiology Research Group

My research focuses on exploring subsurface microbiology initially focusing on large scale microbial transport and relating paleothermal history to the origins of subsurface microorganisms. My most impactful work comes from our field studies in the ultradeep mines of South Africa. Based upon theoretical analyses I hypothesized that radiolysis could support chemolithotrophic bacteria in the crust and we proved that hypothesis true with the discovery of Cand. Desulforudis audaxviator in South Africa. My research group has also carried out studies on a wide range of topics including combined metatranscriptome / metaproteome / geochemical analyses of subsurface samples, sequenced genomes of high affinity atmospheric CH4 oxidizing bacteria in the Arctic and Antarctica, genomic analyses of Dinosaur “soft tissue”, analyses of trace gas oxidizing bacteria in early Mars analog environments and recovery of microbial genomes from ancient DNA.

Westminister College

Coordinator, Great Salt Lake Institute 

Jaimi is the coordinator of the Great Salt Lake Institute. Despite the Great Salt Lakes’ reputation for being inhospitable Jaimi fell in love with the lake. Jaimi has helped increase knowledge and shape perceptions of GSL through work in the private sector, government, and academia. Jaimi’s primary areas of studies include the brine shrimp and bird populations that thrive at the lake. Jaimi and her students educate the community about the importance of the lake.