Astrobiologist of the Month
August
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Every month we feature two astrobiologists from around the world. Our aim is for everyone to get to know each other, connect and network. If you would like to be featured, let us know here.
✉️ jjmarlow [at] bu [dot] edu
🌎 Boston, MA, USA
Opportunities
Undergraduate students
PhD students
JEFFREY MARLOW
“I'm an environmental microbiologist fascinated by the links between minerals and microbes. My group does research in local salt marshes, recent lava flows, and deep sea chemosynthetic environments to understand how microbes get energy and shape their environments.”
Position
Assistant Professor of Biology at Boston University.
Career Pathway
I completed by Bachelor's degree at Washington University in St. Louis, where I did research with Dr. Raymond Arvidson on Mars geomorphology, and Dr. Jan Amend on microbes at shallow hydrothermal vents. I then went to Imperial College London for a Master's degree, working with Dr. Mark Sephton to ground-truth organic molecule mass spectrometry signatures for an Mars mission instrument. For my PhD, I went to Caltech, working with Dr. Victoria Orphan on marine methane seeps. The balance between geological and microbiological research has informed my perspective on astrobiology, which is all about "following the energy".
Research Topics
Microbe-mineral Interactions; Metabolic Activity of Mixed Microbial Communities; Methane Seeps; Salt Marshes.
Why did you decide to become an Astrobiologist?
There's no bigger scientific question than whether we're alone in the universe, and we can learn some critical things about sustaining and protecting life on Earth along the way.
If your lab/research group had a nickname, what would it be?
The M&M lab - Microbes & Minerals!
Are you accepting students?
Undergraduate and PhD students