Email michael.h.new@nasa.gov Institution Ames Research Center Telephone 650-604-4762 Fax 650-604-1088 Address Mail Stop 239-4
Moffett Field, CA 94035
USA Past NAI Teams NASA Ames Research Center (CAN1)

Michael New has been Astrobiology Discipline Scientist at NASA Headquarters since September 2002. Dr. New manages grants for the Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology and Astrobiology Science and Technology Instrument Development programs. Dr. New was born and raised in New York City. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, he attended Yale University. He graduated summa cum laude in 1988 with a BS degree in Chemistry. He earned his PhD in Chemical Physics at Columbia University with Dr. Bruce Berne and has performed post-doctoral research at UC Berkeley (with Dr. David Chandler) and UC San Francisco (with Dr. Andrew Pohorille). He became a civil servant scientist in the Exobiology Branch at NASA Ames Research Center in 1998, and the Deputy Chief (Acting) of his Branch in 2001. Michael’s research interests are wide, encompassing the biophysics of basic life processes, the statistical analysis of complex ecological experiments, machine learning, bioinformatics and the application of complexity theory and computer science to the origin of life. His most recent research has focused on a novel mechanism for evolution in the absence of information storage, a concept he and Andrew Pohorille have called “non-genomic evolution.” Dr. New is the recipient of an NSF Pre-doctoral Fellowship, the J. Malcolm Miller Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Chemistry Department of Columbia University, and several “Spotlight” awards from NASA Ames Research Center. He is an Eagle Scout.