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NASA Postdoctoral Program Opportunities

Exobiology: Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere

Opportunity ID 18579
Opportunity URL https://npp.usra.edu/opportunities/details/?ro=18579
Location NASA Astrobiology Program
Field of Science Astrobiology
Advisors Debashish Bhattacharya
848-932-6218
bhattacharya@aesop.rutgers.edu

Frank Corsetti
213-740-3123
fcorsett@usc.edu

Shiladitya DasSarma
410-234-8847
sdassarma@som.umaryland.edu

Jocelyne DiRuggiero
410-516-8498
jdiruggiero@jhu.edu

Hilairy Hartnett
480-965-5593
h.hartnett@asu.edu

Roland Hatzenpichler
626-319-2707
roland.hatzenpichler@montana.edu

Jared Leadbetter
626-395-4182
jleadbetter@caltech.edu

James Lyons
310-880-1992
jrlyons2@asu.edu

Beth Orcutt
207-315-2567
borcutt@bigelow.org

Mark Urban
860-486-6113
mark.urban@uconn.edu

Citizenship Requirement
  • U.S. Citizens Accepted
  • Lawful Permanent Residents Accepted
  • Foreign Nationals Accepted
Description

The goal of research into the early evolution of life is to determine the nature of the most primitive organisms and the environment in which they evolved. The opportunity is taken to investigate two natural repositories of evolutionary history available on Earth: the molecular record in living organisms and the geological record. These paired records are used to: i) determine when and in what setting life first appeared and the characteristics of the first successful living organisms; ii) understand the phylogeny and physiology of microorganisms, including extremophiles, whose characteristics may reflect the nature of primitive environments; iii) determine the original nature of biological energy transduction, membrane function, and information processing, including the construction of artificial chemical systems to test hypotheses regarding the original nature of key biological processes; iv) investigate the development of key biological processes and their environmental impact; v) examine the response of Earth’s biosphere to extraterrestrial events; vi) investigate the evolution of genes, pathways, and microbial species subject to long-term environmental change relevant to the origin of life on Earth and the search for life elsewhere; and vii) study the coevolution of microbial communities, and the interactions within such communities, that drive major geochemical cycles, including the processes through which new species are added to extant communities.

Applicants who apply for this research opportunity and are subsequently selected for an NPP award are expected to attend the Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) and/or the Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) using the travel funds that are conferred as part of the NPP award.

   




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