Personal profile
Research overview
My PhD project, entitled Detecting habitability signatures using spectroscopy on the ESA ExoMars Mars rover, is focused on using a combination of hyper- and multi- spectral reflectance measurements as well as geochemical analysis of samples throughout the rock record to provide underpinning analogue science for the infrared spectrometer on the ESA ExoMars Rover Rosalind Franklin set to launch in 2028.
On Earth, we have evidence of microbial biomass being preserved for billions of years. Earth’s rock record plays host to several Mars analogue sites, ranging from very young to very old, that can be used to understand the conditions where, for how long, and to what extent this biomass can be preserved.
To identify potential sites where biosignatures may be preserved on Mars, I set out to investigate geochemically influenced spectral signatures that are spatially associated with organic-rich horizons or deposits within samples from analogue sites.