Astrobiologist of the Month

SHAWN DOMAGAL-GOLDMAN

“Shawn Domagal-Goldman in the Branch Head of the Planetary Systems at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. He is an astrobiologist that is a member of multiple interdisciplinary teams, including the Mars Curiosity rover team, and two future flagship telescope concepts: the Habitable Exoplanets Observatory (HabEx) the Large UV-Optical-Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR). Both of these telescopes aim to search for potentially habitable exoplanets, and to search for life on those worlds. He is also part of the GOMAP Program is designed to mature NASA's astrophysics flagship projects early, to ensure they are built on an efficient schedule and budget. The first project in GOMAP will be the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will attempt to directly image 100 exoplanet systems and search any habitable planets for signs of a global biosphere. Shawn’s research focuses on the standards of evidence for biosignatures from such missions. At home, Shawn enjoys any and every way to nerd out about food - baking, cooking, grilling, making coffee, etc. “

Position
Branch Head of the Planetary Systems Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Program Scientist of the GOMAP Project

Career Pathway
B.S. in Physics (minor in English), M.S. in Geology, Ph.D. in Geosciences and Astrobiology

Research Topics
Exoplanet biosignatures, biosignature theory, atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric modeling, baseball statistics

Why did you decide to become an Astrobiologist?
I love the interdisciplinary nature of the field, and the team-based environment that creates. I also love pursuing the big-picture questions, such as "Are we alone?"

If your lab/research group had a nickname, what would it be?
The Pale Rainbow Dots Team

Are you accepting students?
At the moment, no.