Every kid wants to be an astronaut when they grow up. Now I'm grown up but I haven't lost my fascination with space.

I'm raising money to take a course in Iceland called "Biosignatures and the Search For Life on Mars." In this course, I will learn about where (microbial) life might occur on Mars, what it might be like, and how to find it.

I currently work as a post-doc in a biology lab at the University of Connecticut. In order to establish a research program studying extremophiles like the ones that live in deep sea vents or in the hot springs at Yellowstone, I'm pursuing training to supplement my skills in biology with knowledge about planetary geology, biochemistry, and remote sensing. This will prepare me to start my own lab as a professor, using extremophiles to predict what life might be like on other planets.


All of the money I raise will be used to cover the cost of enrollment in the course and travel to Iceland. I will need to pay the course fee at the end of May.

This is the chance of a lifetime! I will be learning from internationally renowned scientists, including NASA researchers. The course will also bring us into the field to sample from the Barðabunga lava field and other Mars analog environments. It will be hard work, but I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to study astrobiology.


 Follow my microbiology and astrobiology tweets @SarahMicrobio


Interested in my research?
Visit my current lab's website.
View a talk I gave on Death Valley bacteria from my PhD work: Specialization of Bacillus in the Geochemcially Challenged Environment of Death Valley