Email mavoytek@usgs.gov Institution NASA Telephone (703) 648-6894 Fax (703) 648-5484 Address 430 National Center
Reston, VA 20192

Dr. Mary A. Voytek, a microbiologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA, took charge of NASA’s Astrobiology Program effective September 15, 2008, as Interim Senior Scientist for Astrobiology in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA HQ. Dr. Voytek’s primary research interest is aquatic microbial ecology and biogeochemistry. She studies environmental controls on microbial transformations of nutrients, xenobiotics, and metals in freshwater and marine systems. She has worked in several extreme environments including Antarctica, hypersaline lakes, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and terrestrial deep- subsurface sites. At the USGS, she heads the Microbiology and Molecular Ecology team. She has conducted deep-biosphere studies at the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure. The most recent results of this research project were published in the June 27, 2008, issue of Science.