Subsurface, Subaqueous, and Salty: Looking for Life in all the right places.
A key recommendation from the recent National Academies’ study on the state of astrobiology is that “NASA’s programs and missions should reflect a dedicated focus on research and exploration of subsurface habitability in light of recent advances demonstrating the breadth and diversity of life in Earth’s subsurface, the history and nature of subsurface fluids on Mars, and potential habitats for life on ocean worlds”. Through my work, I seek to understand the diverse extent of environments on Earth in which life can survive within subsurface, subaqueous, and salty environments and how this translates to the type of habitable environments that are possible in our solar system and beyond and how we can detect and characterize signatures of life in these planetary environments.