By Juan A. Ruiz High in elevation in Northern Arizona, nestled amongst a backdrop of mountains and sky, lies Lowell Observatory—a place where imagination fuels the journey of discovery. Founded in 1894 by Percival Lowell, a man whose vision was as vast as the cosmos, this observatory has become a sanctuary for those driven by the relentless quest to understand the universe. Blanketed by starry Flagstaff skies, Lowell Observatory is a living example of the imagination’s ability to advance science. […]

The race is on to discover the origins of life on Earth. I approach the question from a geological perspective – attempting to understand the early environment of our planet so that it might be recreated in the lab… hopefully along with the spontaneous emergence of life! This research naturally leads to thinking about whether or not there is life beyond Earth, as well as the ways in which our planet has been altered over its long history by life. […]

Our newest Visiting Scholar is Hamed Chok, who will be working with Dr. Fathi Karouia. Hamed is a mathematical scientist and applied artificial intelligence researcher with 15+ years of experience. He holds a Master’s degree in computer science. His research made many contributions in the oil & gas service industry particularly in the development of engineering/scientific answer products related to wireline (sensor) instrument technologies as well as associated geoscience applications spanning various domains such as geophysics, geochemistry, and geomechanics, among […]

Hi! My name is Meri Herrero and I’m a 4th year PhD student working in prebiotic chemistry. I grew up in Barcelona, Spain, and I took a double BS on Physics and Chemistry at the Autonomous University of Catalonia. After that, I enrolled in an MS program in Astrophysics and it was there that I was properly introduced to Astrobiology. I fell in love with it and I knew right away that I wanted to continue my career on that […]

By Bhargabi Banerjee Blue Marble Space Institute of Science (BMSIS) has been a turning point that introduced me to the Young Science Program (YSP). Excited by its potential to broaden my prospects academically and professionally, I applied eagerly, despite having no prior experience. Unfortunately, I faced rejection that year. However, rather than viewing it as a setback, I saw it as an opportunity to develop my skills. I waited for the application window to open next year and wasted no […]

Hosted at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Proposal Writing Retreat (PWR): June 7th – 10th, 2024, Adirondacks Conference: June 10th – 14th, 2024 Applications are now open until April 5th! The Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) is organized by graduate students for early career scientists who study the complex and diverse topics that astrobiology encompasses. For over two decades, this conference has been an integral part of the astrobiology community of graduate students and postdocs by fostering small group discussions, scientific presentations, and social […]

We’re excited to welcome Aarti Balana, who will be working with Dr. Fathi Karouia. Here is a message from Aarti herself: I am Aartii Balana, and I am an explorer and always strive to be a better version of myself. I recently got the opportunity of Visiting Scholar at BMSIS under the guidance of Dr. Fathi Karouia. I have 4 to 5 years of working experience in Hong Kong, as a Data Scientist where my main focus was on training […]

Joining us in February of 2024 is Crystal Han, who will be working through NASA Ames with Drs. Sylvain Costes and Lauren Sanders. Crystal graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and minor in Bioinformatics. She then received a Master’s degree in Bioinformatics from San Jose State University in December 2021. Her research project involved building data pipelines to perform differential gene expression analyses. Prior to joining GeneLab, Crystal worked as a research data analyst in Dr. Frank […]