nai

NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Program

The NASA Astrobiology Program element of the NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) provides opportunities for Ph.D. scientists and engineers of exceptional promise and ability to perform research on projects largely of their own choosing, yet compatible with the research interests of the NASA Astrobiology Program.

Applications to the Astrobiology Program are accepted twice each year: March 1 and November 1. Note that the Astrobiology Program does not participate in every application/award cycle. For additional information about the program see https://npp.usra.edu/.

Astrobiology Program NPP Fellows are included in an on-line directory on the Astrobiology Program website and are given access to NASA Astrobiology Institute collaborative tools. Astrobiology Fellows may also act as ‘Ambassadors’ amongst the NAI Teams and/or the Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology, Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research, MatiSSE, PICASSO and the Habitable Worlds teams of researchers, and between the Astrobiology Program and the broader scientific community, helping to define and lead the field of astrobiology.

The intent of this program is to develop outstanding early career astrobiology researchers, broaden the scope of Astrobiology Program research, and continue to build and integrate the astrobiology community. Selection priority will be given to applicants whose proposed research is particularly interdisciplinary and that extends the individual’s research beyond its current focus. Similarly, applicants responding to opportunities offered by advisors from NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) teams will also be given a higher priority if the proposed research involves collaboration with other NAI teams – as a way of further broadening the scope and impact of the applicant’s research.

March 2019 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Saroj Poudel
Advisor: Paul Falkowski at Rutgers University (NAI Rutgers University Team: ENIGMA – Evolution of Nanomachines Geospheres and Microbial Ancestors team)
Topic: Origin and evolution of proteins as catalysts of metabolism

Kirtland Robinson
Advisor: Chris German at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research)
Topic: Organic Nitrogen Compounds as Temperature, pH, and Redox Indicators for Icy Ocean Worlds

Alexander Edouard Thelen
Advisor: Conor Nixon at Goddard Space Flight Center (NAI Jet Propulsion Laboratory Team – Habitability of Hydrocarbon Worlds: Titan and Beyond team)
Topic: Submillimeter Observations of Titan’s Atmosphere: Implications for Astrobiology

Sebastiaan van de Velde
Advisor: Andy Ridgwell at the University of California, Riverside (NAI University of California, Riverside Team – Alternative Earths team)
Topic: Ocean redox, nutrient availability, and the evolution of Earth’s biosphere

Merve Yesilbas
Advisor: Janice Bishop at the SETI Institute (NAI SETI Institute team)
Topic Exploring hydrated minerals and cryosalts on Mars by bridging laboratory analogues with Martian orbit data

November 2018 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

The NASA Astrobiology Program is pleased to announce the selection of three new NASA Postdoctoral Fellows:

James Eguchi
Advisor: Tim Lyons, U California, Riverside (NAI, Alternative Earths)
Topic: “Evolution of atmospheric O2 and CO2 driven by planetary tectonics”

Adrienne Hoarfrost
Advisor: Yana Bromberg, Rutgers University (NAI, Evolution of Nanomachines Geospheres and Microbial Ancestors (ENIGMA))
Topic: “Linking Life and Earth with Deep Transfer Learning”

Mario Rivas
Advisor: George Fox, Rutgers University of Houston (RCN – Prebiotic Chemistry: Center for the Origin of Live (COOL))
Topic: “On the early evolution of the translational apparatus, a structural insight”

March 2018 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

The NASA Astrobiology Program is pleased to announce the selection of three new NASA Postdoctoral Fellows:

Hadi Fares
Advisor: Christine Keating, Pennsylvania State University, (Exobiology; Prebiotic Evolution)
Topic: “Impact of the Wet/Dry Cycle on Protocells”

Amanda Garcia
Advisor: Betul Kacar, University of Arizona (NAI Georgia Tech/University of Montana, Missoula team – RELIVING THE PAST)
Topic: “The deep history of nitrogenases: Connecting the geochemical record of nitrogen fixation to isotopic signatures”

2017 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Subhendu Bhowmik
Advisor: Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, The Scripps Research Institute, (Exobiology; Prebiotic Evolution)
Topic: “Emergence of RNA: Peptide based prebiotic catalysts for the phosphorylation, polymerization, ligation and replication of RNA monomers and oligomers”

Juan Rosas Bonilla
Advisor: Jun Korenaga, Yale U (NAI U California, Riverside team)
Topic: “Early Earth Geodynamics and Continental Evolution”

Peter Conlin
Advisor: Will Ratcliff, Georgia Institute of Technology (Exobiology; Evolution of Advanced Life)
Topic: “Experimentally investigating the origin and consequences of fitness decoupling during the transition to multicellularity”

Andrew Mullen
Advisor: Britney Schmidt, Georgia Institute of Technology (Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research, (PSTAR))
Topic: “Digital Holographic Microscopy on the Icefin Underwater Antarctic Vehicle: Technology & Science Development for Icy Worlds”

Jaclyn Saunders
Advisor: Tanja Bosak (NAI Massachusetts Institute of Technology team)
Topic: “Arsenic based metabolisms in the open ocean: an unexplored frontier”

Nadia Szeinbaum
Advisor: Jennifer Glass, Georgia Institute of Technology (NAI University of California, Riverside Team – Alternative Earths)
Topic: “Synthetic microbial communities as a tool to understand metabolic success: the role of microbial interactions leading to the Great Oxidation Event”

Nicholas Speller
Advisor: Amanda Stockton, Georgia Institute of Technology (PICASSO)
Topic: “Development of a programmable, comprehensive ionic species analyzer (ISA) for fully automated characterization of hydrated salts on the surface of Europa”

Anna Wang
Advisor: Jack Szostak, Harvard U (Exobiology: Prebiotic Evolution)
Topic: “Robust protocell growth and division”

2016 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Timothy Bowling
Advisor: Simone Marchi, U Colorado Boulder (Habitable Worlds)
Topic: “Modeling the Origin and Evolution of Habitable Environments in Post-Impact Hydrothermal Systems Beneath Martian Craters”

Mackenzie Day
Advisor: David Catling, University of Washington (Habitable Worlds)
Topic: “Habitability of ancient martian dunes”

Moran Frenkel-Pinter
Advisor: Loren Williams, Georgia Institute of Technology (Exobiology: Prebiotic Evolution)
Topic: “Prebiotic Self-Assembly of plausible proto-depsipeptides”

Alan Heays
Advisor: James Lyons, (Arizona State University, Exobiology)
Topic: “Explaining isotope fractionation of sulphur in the Archean atmosphere”

Baptiste Journaux
Advisor: J. Michael Brown/Steve Vance (University of Washington, NAI NASA JPL Icy Worlds team)
Project: “Comprehensive thermodynamics of aqueous solutions and ice for understanding the habitability of extraterrestrial oceans”

Edward Wade Schwieterman
Advisor: Timothy Lyons (University of California, Riverside team)
Topic: “Visualizing Alternative Earths Through Time and Space”

Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert
Advisor: Jan Amend (NAI University of Southern California team)
Topic: “Stable Isotope Probing and NanoSIMS to determine single cell activity in North Pond basalt-hosted microbial communities”

Caroline Turner
Advisor: Vaughn Cooper (University of Pittsburgh, NAI University of Montana, Missoula team)
Topic: “Diversification and evolution of synergy in microbial biofilms”

2015 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Ashleigh Hood
Advisor: Noah Planavsky (NAI University of California, Riverside Team, Yale University)
Topic: “Integrated geochemical-petrographic insights on Earth’s oxygenation from Precambrian carbonates”

Nagayasu Nakanishi
Advisor: Mark Martindale (Exobiology, University of Florida)
Topic: “Investigating the early evolution of neuronal signaling mechanisms in animals”

Stephanie Weldon
Advisor: John McCutcheon (NAI University of Montana, Missoula team)
Topic: “Swapping partners mid-dance: Symbiotic replacement in a tightly integrated intrabacterial, intracellular nested mutualism”

Kristin Woycheese
Advisor: Shuhei Ono (NAI University of Colorado, Boulder team, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Topic: “Methane and sulfur isotope biogeochemistry of terrestrial serpentinizing fluid seeps in the Zambales ophiolite complex”

Barbara Lafuente Valverde
Advisor: Thomas Bristow, NASA Ames Research Center (Habitable Worlds)
Topic: “Use of clay minerals as paleoenvironmental indicators of the origin of Ediacaran multicellular life in the Doushantuo Formation”

Kazumi Ozaki
Advisor: Chris Reinhard, Georgia Institute of Technology (NAI, University of California, Riverside team)
Topic: “New Quantitative Approaches Toward Understanding The Life History Of An Inhabited Planet”

Activities from current and former NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellows

Astrobiology Science Conference, June 15-19, 2015
Click here to read the report of activities from current and former NPP Fellows that gathered at the 2015 AbSciCon.

2014 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Bradley Burcar
Advisor: Nick Hud (Georgia Institute of Technology, Exobiology: Prebiotic Evolution)
Topic: “Investigation and Polymerization of Supramolecular Assemblies of Triazine, Purine, and Pyrimidine Derivatives in the search for proto-RNA”

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau
Advisor: Ariel Anbar (Arizona State University, Exobiology: Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere)
Topic: “The Cycling of Nitrogen and Transition Metals in Low Oxygen Greenhouse Oceans: Evidence From Redox Proxies, Metal Abundances, and Molybdenum/Nitrogen Isotopes”

Luke McKay
Advisor: William Inskeep and Matthew Fields (Montana State University)
Topic: “Insights into a Primitive Microbial Metabolism—Dissimilatory Iron Reducing Methanogenesis: Gene Expression, Low Energy Survival, and Isotopic Biosignatures”

Alan Rooney
Advisor: Francis MacDonald (Harvard University, NAI Massachusetts Institute of Technology team)
Topic: “Constraining the rise of eukaryvory and biomineralization in Neoproterozoic heterotrophic protists“

• Read Alan’s paper in Geology A Cryogenian chronology: Two long-lasting synchronous Neoproterozoic glaciation

Leigh Anne Riedman
Advisor: Andy Knoll (Harvard University, NAI Massachusetts Institute of Technology team)
Topic: “Resolving Early Eukaryotic Evolution with Ultrastructure of Neoproterozoic Microfossils”

Tim Efthymiou
Advisor: Ram Krishnamurthy (Scripps Research Institute, Exobiology: Prebiotic Evolution)
Topic: “Study of a Novel Acyclic Oligonucleotide as an RNA Progenitor and Mimic”

Benjamin Charnay
Advisor: Victoria Meadows (NAI Virtual Planetary Laboratory at the University of Washington)
Topic: ”3D Modeling of the Cloudy/Hazy Atmospheres of the Early Earth and Exoplanets”

Eva Stueeken
Advisor: Roger Buick (NAI Virtual Planetary Laboratory at the University of Washington)
Topic: ”Zinc isotopes in ancient lakes: calibrating a biogeochemical proxy and investigating the importance of non-marine environments for the early evolution of life”

Elizabeth Wilbanks
Advisor: Victoria Orphan (Caltech, NAI University of Southern California team)
Topic: ”In situ detection and activity of the ‘intraterrestrials’”

2013 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Rika Anderson
Advisor: Rachel Whitaker (NAI University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Topic: ”Unraveling the impact of ecological selection pressures on the archaeal pangenome”

Maya Gomes
Advisor: David Johnston (NAI Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Topic: “Sulfur isotope variability associated with storm-induced environmental changes in modern lakes: a novel approach for calibrating sulfate levels in ancient oceans”

Neha Kamat
Advisor: Jack Szostak (Exobiology: Prebiotic Evolution)
Topic: “Enhancing the efficiency of non-enzymatic RNA replication on protocell membranes”

Margie Kinnersley
Advisor: Frank Rosenzweig (Exobiology: Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere)
Topic: “Co-Evolution of Escherichia coli and its parasite Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus: An experimental model for Eukaryogenesis”

Jonathan Toner
Advisor: David Catling (NAI Virtual Planetary Laboratory at the University of Washington)
Topic: “Investigations of low-temperature liquid, viscous, and glassy states important for astrobiology on Mars and other icy bodies”

2012 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Laurie Barge
Advisor: Isik Kanik, NAI JPL Icy Worlds Team
Topic: “Proton Motive Force and Electrochemistry: The Essence of Extant Life and the Driving Forces for Life’s Origin”

Jose Aponte
Advisor: Jamie Elsila-Cook, NAI Goddard Center for Astrobiology Team
Topic: “Assessment of Isotopic Ratios and Enantiomeric Excess of Neutral Compounds and Amines Found on Carbonaceous Chondrites”

Tammy Campbell
Advisor: Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, Exobiology: Prebiotic Evolution
Topic: “Non-Enzymatic Glycosylation of DNA Nucleobases to Develop Potentially Prebiotic Nucleic Acid Alternatives”

Natascha Riedinger
Advisor: Timothy Lyons, NAI Arizona State University Team
Topic: “The fate of molybdenum and its isotopes in deep, oxide-rich marine sediments: Implications for the Mo paleoproxy and oxygen in the ancient ocean”

Erik Sperling
Advisor: Andrew Knoll, NAI MIT Team
Topic: “Reconciling Ecological and Geochemical Triggers of the Cambrian Radiation”

Trinity Hamilton
Advisor: Jennifer Macalady (NAI Pennsylvania State University Team)
Topic: “The Role of Biology in Planetary Evolution: Microbial Primary Production in Proterozoic Oceans”

James Morris
Advisor: Richard Lenski (NAI, University of Illinois-Champaign Team)
Topic: “Black Queen Evolution of Nitrogen Fixation and Its Impact on the Archean Biosphere”

Corinne Myers
Advisor: Andrew Knoll (NAI, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Team)
Topic: “Species’ interactions with a dynamic planet and the impact on the evolution of multicellular life”

Dorian Parker
Advisor: Ralf Kaiser (NAI, University of Hawaii Team)
Topic: “A Molecular Beams Study on the Formation and Photo-Stability of Polycyclic Aromatic Nitrogen Heterocycles (PAHNs) in the Interstellar Medium”

2011 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Aaron Engelhart — Georgia Tech
Advisor: Jack Szostak, Exobiology: Prebiotic Evolution, Mass General/ Harvard
Topic: “Experimental Models of a Key Step in Prebiotic Compartmentalization: Coupling Vesicle Growth and Nucleic Acid Synthesis”

Svetlana Berdyugina — ETH Zurich
Advisor: Karen Meech, NAI University of Hawaii Team
Topic: “Hot Water in Exoplanets and Protoplanetary Disks”

Aaron Goldman — University of Washington
Advisor: Laura Landweber at Princeton University, NAI Georgia Tech Team
Topic: “ORGOS: A Database and Unified Organizational Framework to Aggregate, Evaluate, and Advance Origin of Life Research”

Jordan Okie — University of New Mexico
Advisors: Everett Shock, (Exobiology: Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere, Arizona State University) and Tori Hoehler (NAI, NASA Ames Team )
Topic: “Thermodynamic and Kinetic Constraints on Metabolic Diversity: Quantifying the Biogeochemical Niche Space of Life”
Royal Society Publication: Niche and metabolic principles explain patterns of diversity and distribution: theory and a case study with soil bacterial communities

Paula Welander
Advisor: Roger Summons, MIT
Topic: “Investigating the Biological Function of Sterols and Hopanoids in Methylococcus capsulatus”

Matthew Herron
Advisor: Frank Rosenzweig, University of Montana
Topic: “Theoretical and Experimental Investigations into the Evolution of Complexity”

Betul Arslan
Advisor: Eric Gaucher, Georgia Institute of Technology
Topic: “The Role of Chance and Necessity in Evolution: An Experimental Model to Discover Life’s Solutions”

Melissa Rice
Advisor: John Grotzinger, Cal Tech
Topic: “High-Resolution Mineral Stratigraphy of Mars”

Arsev Aydinoglu
Co-Advisors: Suzie Allard (University of Tennessee) and Ed Goolish (NAI Central)
Topic: “The Collaborative Practices of the NASA Astrobiology Institute: The Assessment of an Interdisciplinary Virtual Scientific Organization”

2010 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Jennifer Glass
Advisor: Victoria Orphan, Cal Tech
Topic: “Metal Bioavailability and Biosignatures in Methane-based Ecosystems”

Sara Imari Walker
Advisor: Paul Davies , Arizona State University
Topic: “First Life: Understanding Emergent Self-Replication through Informational Analysis of Self-Organization in Prebiotic Chemical Reaction-Diffusion Networks”

2009 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Nancy Akerman
Advisor: Julie Huber at the Marine Biological Laboratory
Topic: “Habitability in Extreme Environments: Microbial Function and Activity in Deep and Shallow Marine Hydrothermal Systems”

Neal Gupta
Advisor: Roger Summons and George Cody, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, respectively
Topic: “Polymeric Biosignatures In Organismic Fossils And Environmental Controls On Their Preservation”

Siobhan Wilson
Advisor: David Bish, Indiana University
Topic: “Hydrated sulfate minerals: a habitat for Martian microorganisms?”

Eric Boyd
Advisor: John Peters, Montana State University
Topic: “Methanogenic Activity in Subglacial Ecosystems: Molecular Insight into Life-Sustaining Processes in Extraterrestrial Environments”

Henderson Cleaves
Advisor: George Cody, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Topic: “A Search for Potentially Replicable Prebiotic Molecules”

Brant Jones
Advisor: Ralf Kaiser, University of Hawaii
Topic: “Exploring the Astrobiological Significance of Ices of Kuiper Belt Objects”

Styliani Kafka
Advisor: Alycia Weinberger, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Topic: “Forecasting Life: How is Space Weather Affecting Habitable Zones in Extrasolar Planets?”

William Brazelton
Advisor: Matthew Schrenk, The Carnegie Institution of Washington and East Carolina University
Topic: “Tracing energy, carbon, and nitrogen flow in serpentinization-fueled microbial ecosystems”

Gregory Fournier
Advisor: Eric Alm, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Team
Topic: “Reconstructing the Evolution of Protein Synthesis: A Novel Compositional Approach for Studying Early Life and the Emergence of Complexity”

Jennifer Kyle
Advisors: Linda Jahnke and Ken Stedman, NASA Ames Research Center and Portland State University
Topic: “Viral Preservation within Terrestrial Hot Springs”

Felisa Wolfe-Simon
Advisors: Ariel Anbar and Ronald Oremland, Arizona State University Team and the USGS
Topic: “Arsenic and Old Life: Novel Geo-biochemistry of Arsenic in Biological Systems”

2008 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Dina Bower
Advisor: Andrew Steele, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Topic: “Experimental Investigations on the Effects of Diagenesis on the Formation of Fe,Ti-oxides (Pseudorutile) in Microfossils: Using Minerals as Biosignatures in Ancient Rocks”

Mark Claire
Advisor: Jim Kasting, Pennsylvania State University
Topic: “Biogenic Sulfur – from Biospheres to Biosignatures”

2007 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Julien Foriel
Advisor: Roger Buick, University of Washington , NAI University of Arizona Team
Topic: “Mass-dependent and mass-independent fractionation of selenium isotopes on the early Earth: a probe of planetary oxygenation”

Daiki Horikawa
Advisor: Lynn Rothschild, NAI Ames Research Center Team
Topic: “Tolerance of tardigrades to extremes: Implications for the existence of multicellular organisms in extraterrestrial environments”

Steven Mielke
Advisor: Nancy Kiang, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, University of Washington/VPL Team
Topic: “Molecular-Environmental Limits of Terrestrial Photosynthesis: Implications for Extrasolar Biosignatures”

2006 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Oleg Abramov
Advisor: Stephen Mojzsis, NAI University of Colorado
Topic: “Habitability of Early Earth: Thermal Modeling of the Lithosphere During the Late Heavy Bombardment”

Jennifer Biddle
Advisor: Andreas Teske, NAI Marine Biological Laboratory (UNC Chapel Hill)
Topic: “Molecular and Metabolic Characterization of Uncultivated Archael Groups of the subsurface”

Curtis Cooper
Advisor: Alex Pavlov, University of Arizona
Topic: “Three-Dimensional Modeling of Habitable Zones and the Paleoclimates of the Terrestrial Planets”

Matt Pasek
Advisor: Jonathon Lunine, University of Arizona
Topic: “An investigation to the Relationship of Phosphorus and Sulfur Cosmochemistry to the Origin of Life”

2005 August Review Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Sean Raymond — University of Washington
Advisor: John Bally , NAI Team, University of Colorado
Title: “Comet Clouds, Terrestrial Impacts, and the Habitability of Planets in the Galaxy”

Shannon Hinsa — Dartmouth
Advisor: James Tiedje , NAI Team: Michigan State University
Title: “Understanding How Psychrobacter sp. 273-4 is Able to Live in Siberian Permafrost”

Melissa Trainer — University of Colorado
Advisor: Owen B. Toon , NAI Team, University of Colorado
Title: “The Evaluation of CO2 Clathrate Hydrate as a Possible Sink for Methane in the Martian Atmosphere: Fusing Laboratory Results with a Developing Mars General Circulation Model”

2005 February Review Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Feng Tian — University of Colorado
Advisor: James Kasting, Pennsylvania State University, NAI Team: The Virtual Planetary Laboratory
Title: “Hydrodynamic Escape from Planetary Atmospheres”

Elise Furlan — Cornell University
Advisor: Andrea Ghez, NAI Team: University of California, Los Angeles
Title: “Exploring the Birthplaces of Planets at High Angular Resolution in the Mid-infrared from the Ground and from Space”

Matthew Owen Schrenk — University of Washington*
Advisor: George Cody, NAI Team: Carnegie Institution of Washington
Title: “High-temperature, High-pressure Microcosms to Study the Bio-molecular Basis for the Upper Temperature Limits to Life”

2004 August Review Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Evgenya Shkolnik — University of British Columbia
Advisor: Eric Gaidos, NAI Team: University of Hawaii, Manoa
Title: “Hot Jupiters, Hot Spots and Characterization of Extrasolar Planets”

Brandy Toner — University of California, Berkeley
Advisor: Katrina Edwards, NAI Team: Marine Biological Laboratory
Title: “Low Temperature Weathering of Hydro-thermal Metal-Sulfide Deposits by Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria in the Deep-Sea”

Jinling Huang — University of Georgia
Advisor: Johann Gogarten, NAI Team: Marine Biological Laboratory
Title: “Horizontal Gene Transfer in the Evolution of Early Branching Eukaryotes”

2004 February Review Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Julie A. Huber — University of Washington
Advisor: Mitchell Sogin, NAI Team: Marine Biological Laboratory
Title: “The Distribution of Early Life into Geographically Distinct Subseafloor Microbial Habitats: A Metagenomic Strategy”

Margaret C. Turnbull — University of Arizona
Advisor: Sara Seager, NAI Team: Carnegie Institution of Washington
Title: “Habitable Worlds in the Solar Neighborhood”

Jamie E. Elsila — Stanford University
Advisor: Max Bernstein, NAI Team: NASA Ames Research Center
Title: “Reactions of Aromatics in Extraterrestrial Ice Analogs: Potential Chemical Precursors of Life and False Biosignatures”

Aline Gendri — University of Paris
Advisor: John Mustard, Brown University, NAI Team: Marine Biological Laboratory
Title: “The Tinto River, Spain: A Terrestrial Analogue for Martian Exobiology”

2003 August Review Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Corien Bakermans
Advisor: Michael Thomashow, NAI Team: Michigan State University
Title: “How Low Can They Grow? Bacterial Physiology at Subzero Temperature”

Peter Sazani
Advisor: Jack Szostak, Massachusetts General Hospital, NAI Team: Harvard University
Title: “Directed Evolution of an RNA Polymerase Ribozyme that Utilizes Highly Activated Monomers”

Daniel Lessner
Advisor: James Ferry, NAI Team: Pennsylvania State University
Title: “Oxygen Adaptation in the Anaerobic Methanogenic Archaeon Methanosarcina acetivorans”

2003 February Review Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Matthew T. Hurtgen
Advisor: Andrew Knoll, NAI Team: Harvard University
Title: “The Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Proterozoic Seawater Sulfate: Implications for the Evolution of Earth’s Atmosphere”

Giovanna Tinetti
Advisor: Victoria Meadows, NAI Team: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Title: “Light-Curves and Disk-Averaged Spectra for Terrestrial Planets”

2002 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Susannah Malia McGuire Porter
Advisor: Bruce Runnegar, NAI Team: University of California, Los Angeles
Title: “Constraining the Effects of Preservational Bias on the “Cambrian Explosion”: The Early Animal Fossil Record of Australia”

Geoffrey Garrison
Advisor: Peter Ward, NAI Team: University of Washington
Title: “A Geochemical Study of Marine and Terrestrial Environments Across the Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic Extinction Events”

Christopher Staples
Advisor: Robert Blankenship, NAI Team: Arizona State University
Title: “The Evolutionary Connection Between Photosynthesis and Nitrogen Fixation”

Seth Richard Bordenstein
Advisor: Jennifer Wernegreen, NAI Team: Marine Biological Laboratory
Title: “Genomic Determination of Parasitism and Mutualism in Bacterial Endosymbionts”

Michael Smoliar
Advisor: Conel Alexander, NAI Team: Carnegie Institution of Washington
Title: “Re-Os Isotopic Study of Hydrothermal Processes in Ordinary Chondrites”

Tracy Beth Norris
Advisor: Richard Castenholz, University of Oregon, NAI Team: Ames Research Center
Title: “The Evolution of Desiccation Tolerance in Cyanobacteria”

2001 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Michelle Minitti
Advisor: Laurie Leshin, NAI Team: Arizona State University
Title: “Chasing Water on Mars: A Geochemical Approach Utilizing Martian Meteorites”

Alexander Pavlov
Advisor: Owen Toon, NAI Team: University of Colorado, Boulder
Title: “Organic and Sulfur Hazes in the Archean Atmosphere: Climate and Photochemical Consequences”

Charles Boyce
Advisor: Andrew Knoll, NAI Team: Harvard University
Title: “The Use of Living Plants and Fossil Chemistry to Study the Morphological Patterns and Developmental Processes of Land Plant Evolution”

Henry Scott
Advisor: Russell Hemley, NAI Team: Carnegie Institution of Washington
Title: “Stability of Organic Material in Icy Satellites”

Ruth Ley
Advisor: Norman Pace, NAI Team: University of Colorado, Boulder
Title: “Diversity and Function of the Sulfur-Cycling Community in Hypersaline Microbial Mats”

Sara-Eva Martinez-Alonso
Advisor: Bruce Jakosky, NAI Team: University of Colorado, Boulder
Title: “Identification and Study of Hydrothermal Systems on Mars Through Remote Sensing”

2000 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Eric Gaucher
Advisor: Steven Benner, University of Florida, NAI Team: Scripps Research Institute
Title: “Using Functional Genomics to Infer the Biology and Chemistry of the Last Common Ancestor”

Yanan Shen
Advisor: Andrew Knoll, NAI Team: Harvard University
Title: “Environmental Changes in the Context of Biological Evolution During Neoproterozoic on the Yangtze Platform, a Snowball Earth?”

Mark Messerli
Advisor: Mitchell Sogin, NAI Team: The Marine Biological Laboratory
Title: “Physiological Regulation of Cytosolic pH in a Eukaryotic Acidophile”

Marc Kramer
Advisor: David Peterson, NAI Team: NASA Ames Research Center
Title: “Linking Earth Science and Astrobiology: Surface Hydrology and Microbial Ecology for Global Semi-Arid Ecosystems”

Virginia Edgecomb
Advisor: Andreas Teske, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, NAI Team: The Marine Biological Laboratory
Title: “Hyperthermophiles of the Hydrothermal Vent Subsurface: Limits of Life and Extraterrestrial Analogs”

David Warmflash
Advisor: David McKay, NAI Team: NASA Johnson Space Center
Title: “Immunoassay Life Detection Test”