Applications to the Astrobiology Program are accepted twice each year, though the Astrobiology Program does not participate in every application/award cycle. For additional information about the program see https://npp.orau.org/index.html.

Astrobiology Fellows may act as ‘Ambassadors’ amongst the Exobiology Program, Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research, MatiSSE, PICASSO and the Habitable Worlds teams of researchers, the Research Coordination Networks (NExSS, NfoLD, Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments (PCE3), Network for Ocean Worlds) , 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.

NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Selections

March 2025 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Panagiotis-Ilias Brousos
Advisor: Marc Neveu, Exobiology: Biosignatures and Life Elsewhere
Topic: Biosignature Preservation of Psychrophilic Organisms under Simulated Cryovolcanic Conditions on Icy Ocean Worlds

Alexandre Champagne-Ruel
Advisor: Kirtland Robinson
Topic: Mapping Molecular Complexity for Agnostic Life Detection

Kaushal Gianchandani
Advisor: Michael Way, ICAR – Habitability Space: Exploring a New Frontier via Climate Models and Planetary Statistics
Topic: Ocean circulation and transport of biosignatures of icy moons

Meenu Upadhyay
Advisor: Partha Bera, ICAR – The Formation and Evolution of Prebiotic Organics in Extraterrestrial Environments: Exploring the Role of Astrochemistry in the Origin of Life
Topic: Accurate Quantum Chemical Exploration of Adsorption, Diffusion, Desorption, and Reactivity of Radicals on Astrochemical Grains

November 2024 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Siqi Li
Advisor: Tim Lyons, ICAR – Alternative Earths – How to Build and Sustain a Detectable Biosphere
Topic: Extraterrestrial delivery of bio-essential metals as a possible driver of Archean biotic evolution and ecological expansion

Jordyn Robare
Advisor: Brook Nunn, Exobiology: Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere
Topic: An -omics Approach to Evaluating Biomarkers in Low-Biomass Subsurface Serpentinizing Ecosystems

2024 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Aoshuang Ji
Advisor: Eddie Schwieterman (ICAR – Alternative Earths – How to Build and Sustain a Detectable Biosphere)
Topic: “Using Methane Isotopologues to Illuminate Earth’s O2-CH4 History: Implications for Remote Biosignatures on Habitable Worlds”

Elliott Mueller
Advisor: Boswell Wing (ICAR – Engine of Innovation: How Compartmentalization Drives Evolution of Novelty and Efficiency Across Scales)
Topic: “Exploring fermentation as a biogeochemical lever on the Great Oxidation Event”

Chenyi Tu
Advisor: Michael Kipp (ICAR – Virtual Planetary Laboratory)
Topic: “Precambrian Phosphorites: Evidence of nutrient-rich oceans or local water mass chemistry?”

Margaret Weng
Advisor: Anne Dekas (RCN – What life wants: Exploring the Natural Selection of Elements)
Topic: “Life’s vital elements: molybdenum uptake as a case study of the requirements for habitability”

2023 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Robert Citron
Advisor: Simone Marchi (Habitable Worlds)
Topic: “Examining Early Mars Habitability Through Load-Corrected Paleo-Ocean Levels”

Tara Decker
Advisor: Stephen Kane (Habitable Worlds)
Topic: “Star-Planet Connections: Effects of Stellar Activity on Exoplanet Demographics and Atmospheres”

Camille Denton
Advisor: Alyssa Rhoden (Habitable Worlds)
Topic: “Probing the Presence and Lifespan of Oceans on Saturn’s Mid-Sized Moons Using Large Impact Basins”

Kalev Hantsoo
Advisor: Kimberly Lau (Exobiology: Evolution of Advanced Life)
Topic: “Sulfur, calcium, and climate: Evaporite deposition as a carbon cycle driver”

Nathan Reed
Advisor: Karyn Rogers (RCN – The Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments Consortium (PCE3))
Topic: “Coupling Early Earth Organic Haze Chemistry to Prebiotic Aqueous Environments”

Alberto Vazquez-Salazar
Advisor: Irene Chen (ICAR- Emergence of a Complex Biochemical System: Evolutionary Paths to Coded Protein Synthesis)
Topic: “Effect of dynamic prebiotic conditions on the evolution of self-aminoacylating ribozymes”

November 2022 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Sarah Fixsen
Advisor: Shelley Copley, U Colorado, Boulder (Exobiology: Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere)
Topic: “Evolution of metabolic pathways”

Manesh Joshi
Advisor: Christine Keating (Exobiology: Prebiotic Evolution)
Topic: “Increasing the compositional heterogeneity of hybrid protocells and evaluating its implications for their sustenance and functioning”

Sunil Pulletikurti
Advisor: Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy (Exobiology: Prebiotic Evolution)
Topic: “Investigating the feasibility of protometabolic reactions within model protocells”

James Rogers
Advisor: Hilke Schlichting (RCN – NexSS: CLEVER Planets – Cycles of Life-Essential Volatile Elements on Rocky Planets)
Topic: “Exoplanets and the Chemical Road to the Radius Gap”

Morgan Sobol
Advisor: Betul Kacar (RCN – What life wants: Exploring the Natural Selection of Elements)
Topic: “Exploring the co-evolution of nitrogen fixation machinery and the environment”

2022 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Robert Graham
Advisor: Dorian Abbot, University of Chicago (Habitable Worlds)
Topic: “Weathering the Storm: How Has Earth Stayed Habitable for Billions of Years?”

Alexander Trowbridge
Advisor: Simone Marchi, Southwest Research Institute (Habitable Worlds)
Topic: “Modeling Impact-Induced Hydrothermal Systems on Mars.”

Lena Vincent
Advisor: Aaron Noell, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Exobiology: Biosignatures and Life Elsewhere )
Topic: “Preservation of Cellular and Organic Biosignatures Under Ocean World Surface Conditions”

Jacon Winnikoff
Advisor: Peter Girguis, Harvard University (RCN – The Network for Ocean Worlds (NOW) – Exploring Ocean Worlds)
Topic: “Energetic Costs of Life in Extreme Environments”

2020 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Erica Barlow
Advisor: Chris House, Pennsylvania State University (RCN – Network for Life Detection (NFoLD) – LAB – Laboratory for Agnostic Biosignatures
Topic: “Exploring universal signs of life in the geological record on Earth”

(Luiz) Felipe Benites
Advisor: Debashish Bhattacharya, Rutgers University (Exobiology: Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere)
Topic: “Emergence of genomic novelty in early eukaryotes driven by horizontal gene transfer with viruses: tempo, mode and units of transfer”

Steffen Buessecker
Advisor: Anne Dekas, Stanford University (RCN – Network for Life Detection (NFoLD) – OAST – Oceans Across Space and Time)
Topic: “Linking methanogen activity and biomarkers across diverse ocean habitats”

Claudia Alvarex Carreño
Advisor: Loren Williams, Georgia Institute of Technology (RCN – Prebiotic Chemistry: Center for the Origin of Life (COOL))
Topic: “On the origins and evolution of the first folded protein domains”

Jesse Colangelo
Advisor: Frank Corsetti, University of Southern California (Exobiology: Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere)
Topic: “Informing metabolic drivers of microbial mat lithification through in situ activity and stable isotope measurements”

Tucker Ely
Advisor: Brandy Toner, University of Minnesota (RCN: Network for Ocean Worlds (NOW) – Exploring Ocean Worlds)
Topic: “Solving for all possible seawater compositions on ocean worlds to reveal candidate mission measurements.”

Cole Mathis
Advisor: Chris Kempes, the Santa Fe Institute (RCN – Network for Life Detection (NFoLD) – OAST – Oceans Across Space and Time)
Topic: “Agnostic Life Detection from Measurements to Theory”

2019 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Saroj Poudel
Advisor: Paul Falkowski, 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, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research, (PSTAR))
Topic: “Organic Nitrogen Compounds as Temperature, pH, and Redox Indicators for Icy Ocean Worlds”

Alexander Edouard Thelen
Advisor: Conor Nixon, 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, University of California, Riverside (NAI University of California, Riverside Team – Alternative Earths)
Topic: “Ocean redox, nutrient availability, and the evolution of Earth’s biosphere”

Merve Yesilbas
Advisor: Janice Bishop, SETI Institute (NAISETI Institute team)
Topic: “Exploring hydrated minerals and cryosalts on Mars by bridging laboratory analogues with Martian orbit data”

Devon Cole
Advisor: Chris Reinhard, Georgia Institute of Technology (NAI University of California, Riverside Team – Alternative Earths)
Topic: “The oxygenation of a habitable world: Evaluating the dynamics and stability of Earth’s oxygen cycle”

Chuhong Mai
Advisor: Hilke Schlichting, University of California: Los Angeles (RCN: NExSS – Nexus for Exoplanet System Science: CLEVER Planets – Cycles of Life-Essential Volatile Elements on Rocky Planets)
Topic: “Interactions between Primary and Secondary Atmospheres: Impacts on the Retention and Loss of Volatiles on Rocky Planets”

Julia McGonigle
Advisor: Beth Orcutt, Bigelow Labs (Exobiology: Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere)
Topic: “Applying Single Cell Isotope Approaches to Lost City Samples to Link Extremophile Phylogeny and Physiology”

2018 Selections for the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Hadi Fares
Advisor: Chris 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 Institute of Technology team – Reliving the Past)
Topic: “The deep history of nitrogenases: Connecting the geochemical record of nitrogen fixation to isotopic signatures”

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”

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”

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”

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”

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”

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

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

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, NASAJPL 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, NAI 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”

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 (Exobiology, 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

NASA Postdoctoral Management Program

The NASA Postdoctoral Management Program (NPMP) is an adjunct to the NASA Postdoctoral Research Program and is designed to provide valuable experience in the management of scientific programs. NPMP Fellows generally work with NASA program scientists at NASA Headquarters on a wide range of programmatic activities involving various aspects in the management of a research and analysis program, analyzing the progress made toward the Division's scientific research objectives, and participating in future mission feasibility studies.

NASA Postdoctoral Management Program Fellowships are open to applicants who have completed at least one year of a research fellowship.

Below is a list of NPMPs who have worked on astrobiology projects.

Current Fellows

Center	NPMP Fellow	NPMP Advisor	Research Proposal Title
NASA HQ	Rachel Harris	Becky McCauley Rench, Lindsay Hays, David Grinspoon	NASA-DARES: NASA Decadal Astrobiology Research and Exploration Strategy
Ames	Ryan Felton	Caleb Scharf	Enabling AI/ML Adoption in the Astrobiology Community

Former Fellows (appointment ended in 2024)

Astrobiology	Jessica Lynn Noviello	Shawn Domagal-Goldman	Modeling the Core Mass Fractions of Ultra-short Period Exoplanets and Supporting NExSS Activities

Former Fellows (appointment ended in 2023)

NASA HQ	Bradley Burcar	Mary Voytek	NPMP Proposal for Opportunity 18344 - Position with Mary Voytek

Former Fellows (appointment ended in 2018)

NASA HQ	Marc Neveu	Michael New	Fostering the Astrobiological Exploration of Ocean Worlds

Former Fellows (appointment ended in 2014)

NASA HQ	Lindsay Hays	Michael New	Exploring Science Management and Coordinating Astrobiology Workshops

Former Fellows (appointment ended in 2012)

NASA HQ	Shawn Domagal-Goldman	Michael New	Communication of Astrobiology Science: Competitions, Workshops, and Primers