I am a Biogeochemist with >24 years of professional experience (>4.5 years abroad: Stockholm University, Techniche Universität of München, Texas A&M University, Canadian Concordia University, and Zürich Universität) since my graduation in Chemistry and Environmental Sciences (2002) and my doctorate in Geoscience (2007). My academic background is in Organic Geochemistry and I have expertise in exploiting molecular and isotopic techniques for the analysis of organic matter with applications in astrobiology, biogeochemistry, analytical and environmental chemistry, atmospheric science, or ecology.

I’m interested in the diagnostic value of cell-membrane derived organics (i.e. lipids) to attest to the presence and quality of life, and how these highly resistant biomarkers co-evolve with their environment, retaining environmental and climatic information in the form of molecular and isotopic features that can be exploited to examine and reconstruct past environmental changes. My research is geared toward detecting unambiguous signs of life on scenarios in our Solar System that meet (present) or have met (past) favorable conditions (e.g. warmer climate or the presence of liquid water) for the emergence of life. My ultimate goal is to contribute to defining future strategies to search for extraterrestrial life (where, how and what).

I lead the research line on “Lipid Biomarkers in Planetary Exploration” within the Department of Molecular Evolution at CAB, which applies molecular and isotopic forensic tools to explore the distribution, sources, and synthetic pathways of organics in terrestrial analogs, as well as to investigate their biogenicity and degradation pathways (taphonomy). My work combines planetary-analogue-based research with laboratory studies that simulate cosmic radiation exposure, and has implications for informing planned and future life-detection space missions. Our findings help interpret existing and future mass spectral data from instruments onboard astrobiology missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory (the SAM instrument), and support upcoming missions such as ExoMars (the MOMA instrument), Mars Sample Return, and Europa Clipper (the SUDA instrument).

In the field, I explore extreme environments of diverse nature (hypersalinity, hyperaridity, extreme pH and temperature, intense UV radiation, high metal contents, etc.) to search for molecular and isotopic lipid profiles that help to: 1) reconstruct biological community structures and metabolic traits in modern and ancient scenarios (paleobiology), 2) understand molecular adaptability to external factors and degradation patterns during diagenesis (taphonomy), and 3) learn to identify unambiguous signs of life in analogous environments in the Solar System (e.g. Mars or Icy Worlds). I explore Martian and icy world analogue locations in Earth’s extreme environments, including polar deserts in Iceland, Greenland, or Antarctica; high-altitude hyperarid deserts in the Andes (Atacama and the Argentinean Puna) and Himalayas (Ladakh region in India); hyperarid salt pans in Botswana (Makgadikgadi); and iron and sulfur-rich hyperacid waters in Río Tinto (Spain); or polyextreme environments in Ethiopia (Dallol geothermal region).

In the lab, I extract and isolate organic compounds and analyze them molecularly and isotopically to identify cell-membrane-derived biomarkers that can be associated with organismic sources, biosynthetic pathways, carbon metabolisms, depositional environments and conditions. I investigate molecular and isotopic patterns of degradation under physicochemical stressors (radiation, oxidative species, pressure and temperature) to understand taphonomic processes that alter the integrity of lipid biomarkers. I conduct simulated cosmic-radiation experiments to evaluate the stability and taphonomic degradation patterns of lipid-like organics with biomarker potential under cumulative Martian radiation exposure.

WoS ResearcherID: N-1172-2013

ORCID: 0000-0002-7444-1242

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