» Allan Treiman

Allan Treiman works as a geologist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (a NASA contractor doing space science research and education), and works mostly with Martian meteorites. His involvement with Spitsbergen started because the carbonates on Sverrefjell are very similar to some in the Martian meteorite ALH 84001 (which does not contain signs of ancient Martian life). He and Hans Amundsen wrote a paper about those Sverefjell carbonate minerals.

In 2006 AMASE, he worked mostly with Dave Blake and the CheMin instrument. The CheMin is slated to fly to Mars in 2009, and they were testing its capabilities and performance on Mars-analog materials and environments.

In his real life, Allan has been married to Diane Humes for 26 years, and has two sons, both now in college. They share their empty nest with Cookie the cat and some tropical fish.

Professional web page: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/treiman/

Contacting Allan

Allan Treiman
Lunar and Planetary Institute
3600 Bay Area Boulevard
Houston, TX 77058 USA
281-486-2117

» Andrew Steele

Andrew Steele is an astrobiologist involved in designing and testing instruments, protocols and procedures for life detection on Mars. After working as the microbiologist assigned to undertake life detection in the Mars meteorite ALH84001 (and finding only terrestrial organisms), Steelie moved on to developing microarrays for solar system exploration, understanding the origin and problems associated with terrestrial microbiota in meteorites. In 2000 he became part of a team that reinterpreted the oldest known microfossils as pseudo fossils which helped to start a healthy debate as to the nature and timing of early life on Earth. He has brought biotechnology techniques to attack questions in origin of life studies, pioneering the use of microarray printing of amino acids on mineral surfaces as a way to rapidly screen thousands of molecules for chiral binding to different substrates.

For several years he has been testing space flight instruments in the Arctic aboard the AMASE expedition. He has a microarray instrument in development for Exomars (along with Mark Sims of Leicester university), has helped test and develop the first portable system for microbial monitoring in space (Norm Wainwright and Charles River PTS system along with NASA MSFC LOCAD group) and chaired the Astrobiology Field Laboratory science steering group that began the science definition for a putative 2015 mission to look for life on Mars. In his spare time he is a father to two wonderful children, a husband to a very patient lady (Katja), loves to shred a guitar and put a few tunes together using computer software.

» Arthur L. Lane

Education

A.B. (Chemistry) - Harvard Univ. (1961)
Ph.D. (Phys. Chem.) - Univ. of Illinois (1968)

Research Interests

• Ultraviolet physics and photochemistry
• UV planetary astronomy of atmospheres & solid surfaces (cryogenic ices)
• Spectroscopic and innovative application of instrumentation to unique problems
• Planetary insitu microinstrument development
• Remote, proximity & in-situ sensing pollution problems
• Science interactions with spacecraft and space mission design
• Mentoring students & young progessionals in scientific instrument applications, development and fabrication

Selected Awards

• NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal - Mars (1972)
• NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal - Jupiter (1981)
• NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal - Uranus (1986)
• NASA Group Achievement Award - Voyager Photopolarimeter Team (1982, 1986, 1990)
• NASA Group Achievement Award - Galileo UVS & Flight team
• NASA Group Achievement Award - Mars Sicence Microrover Demonstration (1993)
• NASA Group Achievement Award - Mars Oxidant Experiment (1997)

Contacting Arthur

Arthur L. Lane
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
M/S 183-301
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109
Phone: 818.354.2725
Fax: 818.393.4445

» Dave Potts

Dave Potts is a UK-based lighting cameraman specialising in international broadcast and extreme environment camera work. He has been shooting, producing and directing UK commercial and broadcast television for the past ten years and his work has taken him from Venezuelan mountaintops to Arctic glaciers, high-speed car pursuits in Europe to rock band documentaries in the US.

Dave's time is currently split between AMASE, UK broadcast TV show A Place In The Sun, and his company, Hummingbird Location Sound, who are currently contracted to provide location sound recording for several UK feature films in-the-making.

»Jennifer Eigenbrode

Jennifer Eigenbrode is a biogeochemist and geologist with expertise in organic and isotope geochemistry. She specializes in the use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) in the analysis of lipids and other hydrocarbons in geological, hydrological, biological samples. She obtained her M.S. degree in 1999 from Indiana University and received her Ph.D. from the Penn State University in 2004, then joined the Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, as a postdoctoral fellow.. Currently, Eigenbrode is a research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Eigenbrode had an early start in astrobiology and was presented the first Gerald A. Soffen Award for student research in 2001 by the NASA Astrobiology Institute. Eigenbrode’s research stresses organic and isotopic observations in geological context. Her doctorate work focused on molecular and carbon isotopic records of a 2.72-2.56 billion year old succession of rocks in Western Australia. The results of this study provide strong support for the establishment and rise of aerobic microbial ecosystems before the first major increase in atmospheric oxygen concentrations.

Eigenbrode joined AMASE in 2005 when she began conducting organic analyses of geobiological samples with the intent of understanding mixed pools of modern and ancient biosignatures. The scientific approach is unique in that it combines organic geochemical observations with in situ biological, nutrient, mineralogical, and isotopic observations made by the AMASE team. In addition, Eigenbrode with Benning led the development of an in-field cleaning protocol for sterilization and organic decontamination of sampling devices, including an ice corer and the scooper of JPL’s Cliffbot. She joined Benning and Fogel in investigating biosignatures and the microbial ecology of glacial ice and snow and assisted the SAM subteam conducting field-GCMS on geobiological materials. Eigenbrode provides AMASE with organic geochemistry, Precambrian geology, and contamination-control expertise.

» Marilyn Fogel

Marilyn L. Fogel is a biogeochemist specializing in the use of stable isotopes to trace biochemical and geochemical processes. She obtained her doctorate degree in botany from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in 1977. For two years, she worked in the laboratory of Thomas C. Hoering as a postdoctoral fellow at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, before she was hired as a permanent staff member there. Fogel has worked on marine, estuarine, and terrestrial ecosystems in both modern and ancient settings. She has pioneered studies of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen isotopes in organic and inorganic materials. Her work on the paleoclimate of Australia demonstrated that humans had a major impact on the continental ecology that led to the extinction of most of Australia's megafauna. Her field work has taken her to diverse places such as the Sargasso Sea (the major central ocean gyre in the North Atlantic) and the Outback of the Australian continent. Since 1997, she has been involved with the space science community as a member of the National Research Council's Space Studies Board, a founding member of the Committee studying the Origin and Evolution of Life, and a co-investigator on Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Carnegie Institution of Washington's NASA astrobiology teams. Her work with AMASE started in 2003, when she performed isotopic analysis of carbonates in collaboration with Hans Amundsen and Andrew Steele. Since that time, she has participated on three AMASE trips and has provided expertise in biogeochemistry, ecology, and stable isotope systematics.

» Oliver Botta

Oliver Botta is an organic chemist specializing in trace organic analysis of organic compounds in extraterrestrial samples. He got his doctorate degree from the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 1999, working on the synthesis of modified nucleosides used in tRNA studies. He then moved to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, for a three-year post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Prof. Jeffrey L. Bada, where he acquired the techniques to analyze trace amounts of organic molecules in carbonaceous meteorites. During this time he was involved in the development of the Mars Organic Detector (MOD), in particular in the generation of fluorescent amino acid derivatives and their spectral characteristics. In addition to meteorites he also analyzed samples such as impact boundary layers and lunar soil samples, as well as biological samples such as whale eye lenses. In 2002, Oliver moved to the Netherlands for two years as a post-doctoral fellow of the European Space Agency (ESA). At the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC), he, together with graduate student Zita Martins, installed and operated an analytical laboratory for meteorite sample analysis, specializing in amino acids and nucleobases. He was also involved in a study of carbon-rich stars to search for N-heterocyclic aromatic compounds using the 12 m radio telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona. During the time at LIC he was selected as a team member for the 2003/04 Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) expedition and deployed with a team of eight for six weeks to field camp on the LaPaz icefield in Antarctica. In spring 2004 he joined the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland, as a Junior Visiting Scientist to help establish the Astrobiology activities at ISSI. Following the recommendation of the first ISSI Forum, convened by Oliver, he was charged with the organization of the ISSI workshop on “Strategies of Life Detection” for April 2006. At the same time Oliver was a Visiting Assistant Research Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Astrobiology Laboratory, where he continued his research efforts on meteorite analysis while being involved in the development of the Sample Analysis on Mars (SAM) instrument. He has now returned to ISSI as the Astrobiology Discipline Scientist. A prototype of the SAM instrument was deployed on AMASE 06, which is why Oliver joined the expedition for the first time this year.

» Pamela Gales Conrad

Pamela Gales Conrad is an astrobiologist working on life detection and habitability assessment at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. She received her doctorate degree from the George Washington University in 1998, in geology. Her doctoral research in mineral physics was conducted at the Geophysical Laboratory, CIW. One primary research interest is the relationship between the physical and chemical properties of minerals and rock, and the organisms living in association with them. She has worked for the past several years on the development of non-invasive optical methods for the in situ "triaging" of potential rock sample targets, in particular deep ultraviolet laser-induced native fluorescence, and Raman spectroscopy at various excitation wavelengths. Her primary planetary science interest is in the stability of organic molecules on Mars and other places in the solar system, and she is a co-investigator with the Sample Analysis on Mars team that will launch as part of the Mars Science Laboratory payload in 2009.

Her roles on AMASE include studying the edges of the habitable zones at the Svalbard field sites, refining the use of the non-contact fluorescence/Raman spectroscopy optical suite for sample selection and supporting the GSFC SAM team in analysis of organic molecules. She has been involved with the last three AMASE expeditions, as well as two Antarctic expeditions, and exploration of deep sea hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean.

» Rohit Bhartia

Rohit Bhartia (Ro) is a software and instrument developer working on novel deep UV fluorescence and Raman instruments. For the past 8 years he has been working with Dr. Pamela Conrad at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, developing deep UV Raman and laser induced native fluorescence instruments for field use on extreme environments on Earth and future missions looking for trace organics on the surface or subsurface Mars and Europa. Ro's field experience with these UV instruments began with AMASE 2003 and repeated in 2006, with a deployment in the Arctic. In 2004, he was a member Dr. Conrad's expedition for a similar instrument deployment in the Antarctic. His contributions to the UV effort include automated decision tools for real-time analysis, analysis models used to determine molecular specificity using fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy, and hyperspectral imaging of underivatized organics and microbes. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in bacteriology. He is presently in the process of obtaining a master's degree in biomedical engineering and informatics from the University of Southern California.

» Terry Huntsberger

Terry Huntsberger is currently a Principal Member of the Technical Staff at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, in the Advanced Robotic Controls Group of the Mobility and Robotic Systems Section. His current research is focused on autonomous tasking and control of groups of heterogeneous vehicles performing both loosely as well as closely coupled tasks.

He was the JPL Field Lead for the Cliffbot Rover Team for the AMASE 06 task. Prior to joining JPL in 1999, he was an Associate Professor and Founder/Director of the Intelligent System Laboratory in the Department of Computer Science at the University of South Carolina (currently a Full Adjunct Professor).

Contacting Terry

Terry Huntsberger
http://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Terrance_Huntsberger
MS 82-105
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109
Phone: (818) 354-5794
Fax: (818) 393-3254

» Verena Starke

Verena Starke is a molecular biologist and microbial ecologist specializing in astrobiotechnology with regard to molecular techniques for detecting life. She developed a strong background in molecular biology during her master's research in 2004 at the Philipps-University Marburg (Germany), where she used molecular techniques to evaluate genetic and microbiological approaches. To further her knowledge and applied skills in astrobiology she participated in internships at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne and at NASA Johnson Space Center/Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, during her Masters. In January 2005, she began a predoctoral research position, working with Dr. Andrew Steele at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, focusing on development of microarray-based technology for the detection and characterization of low levels of life in extreme environments and space exploration. She continues to develop these interests as a Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland, collaborating between the research groups of Dr. Steele and Dr. Frank Robb at the University of Maryland. She aims to study and work professionally in the field of biotechnology, detecting life in extreme environments on Earth or other extraterrestrial objects. Since 2005 she has lent her expertise in molecular approches for the detection of life and microbial ecology to the last two AMASE trips.

»Fernando Rull

Fernando Rull is Professor of Crystallography and Mineralogy at the University of Valladolid and Senior Scientist at the Centro de Astrobiología Associated to NASA Astrobiology Institute, in Madrid.

He obtained a M.S. Degree in Technical Engineering in 1968, a M.S. Degree in Physics in 1973 and the Ph.D. in Physics in 1976 at Valladolid University obtaining the Special Award for Doctorate in 1980.

He accumulated a wide experience in Raman and IR spectroscopy working in Montpellier, Paris, Copenhagen, Nancy and Bradford Universities.

His scientific activity has been mainly related with structural characterisation in materials science and mineralogy. He is also very interested in water and aqueous solutions structure and in the water-mineral interactions.

Fernando Rull joined the Centro de Astrobiología in 2000 starting new activities related with applications of Raman spectroscopy to meteorite analysis, possible Martian analogues (Rio Tinto and Jaroso Ravine) and developing instrumentation in spectroscopy for possible use in planetary exploration. In this last case he is developing a remote Raman system for surface mineral and fluids analysis.

He collaborated in the MARTE project in Rio Tinto and intensively participated in the PASTEUR Working Group for the integration of Raman-LIBS techniques inside the instrument payload for ExoMars mission. He is at the present the Team Coordinator of this Raman-LIBS instrument.

»Steve Squyres

Steve Squyres is Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University, and is the Principal Investigator for the science payload on the Mars Exploration Rover Project. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1981 and spent five years as a postdoctoral associate and research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center before returning to Cornell as a faculty member. His main areas of scientific interest have been Mars and the moons of the outer planets.