Molecular Ecology/Biomarkers in extreme environments

Postdoctoral researcher in microbial ecology of extreme environments (Juan de la Cierva-Formación contract).

PhD in microbiology (2017), European Master in inland water quality assessment (2011) and degree in Environmental Sciences (2009) in the Autonomous University of Madrid. After the development of her PhD thesis at the IMDEA Water Institute on biodegradation of toxins produced by cyanobacteria, she joined the Centro de Astrobiología with a postdoctoral contract from the Nacional System for Youth Employment (2018), initiative from the European Union. She has recently been a beneficiary of a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral contract (2020) to continue with her research at the Centro de Astrobiología. Her research is focused on the microbial ecology of extreme environments (hot and cold deserts, salty lagoons, etc.) through the information extracted from DNA, proteins and lipids in samples. In addition, she investigates the influence of present environmental conditions of Mars (e.g., ionizing radiation) on these biomolecules (biomarkers) with the aim of evaluating their degree of preservation in the Martian regolith in a hypothetical scenario of life development (similar to that of Earth) in the past of Mars.

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria_Lezcano

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ORCID: 0000-0001-8173-4388

WoS ResearcherID: Y-7291-2018