Highlighting Women in Geobiology at MIT: Dr. Katherine French
Story Caption: Dr. French with Dr. Emily Matys, another graduate of the Summons Lab. Current Role: I am currently a research geochemist in the Central Energy Resource Science Center at the USGS in Denver, CO. I apply molecular and isotopic geochemistry to petroleum system research. Years in the Summons Lab:I was a Ph.D. student in […]
Cold World Explorers
by Fatima Husain Throughout their journeys in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), students and researchers alike investigate the mysteries of the planet. Fieldwork, a critical component of geological study, takes some researchers to the ends of the Earth, and occasionally to some of the coldest, most remote environments known to humankind. […]
Archiving Experiences in Science
by Fatima Husain In December, Summons Lab members Ainara Sistiaga and Fatima Husain conducted invited talks and activities for the semesterly Science and Us high school student workshop held at MIT, which brings approximately fifty students from around Massachusetts to campus for science enrichment activities. Sistiaga and Husain both shared their experiences in science, and […]
How to survive in one of Earth’s most extreme environments
New research finds that a unique component of cell membranes in an archaea species conveys protection against acidic surroundings by Fatima Husain Even in Earth’s most inhospitable environments, life has taken hold. Extremophiles, the organisms most well-known for withstanding extreme temperatures, pHs, salinity, and even nutrient-starvation, have evolved special mechanisms that enable them to survive […]
Roger Summons on Proof
Over the summer, Roger Summons was interviewed for Proof, America’s Test Kitchen’s podcast. His interview appears in the episode “Beanboozled.” The whole podcast episode is fun, and Roger appears between minutes 27 and 32. Listen in here!
Mars 2020 landing site offers unique opportunity to study ancient Martian history and search for ancient life
EAPS Professors Summons, Bosak and Weiss provide insight and advise on landing site potential. by Fatima Husain Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/JHU-APL In 2020, NASA’s next rover will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and head to Jezero crater on Mars. The location, which NASA Science Mission Directorate associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen announced this week, […]
Addressing the Possibility of Life on Mars
Mars expert John Grotzinger tells the story of exploration and the search for ancient life on the red planet at the 2018 Carlson Lecture. by Fatima Husain Story Image: John Grotzinger’s research focuses on interactions between life and environment, and tectonic and climatic regimes. (Vicki McKenna) In 2018, millions around the world caught glimpses of the planet […]
Summons Lab Latest Research Highlights
Summons Lab recent research features two publications in Nature and PNAS with funding support from the Simons Foundation Origins of Life Collaboration program. Recently, David Gold published his paper entitled “Paleoproterozoic sterol biosynthesis and the rise of oxygen” in Nature. Sterol biosynthesis signals aerobic metabolic processes by eukaryotes. However, there has been debates on the earliest […]
Genming and Xiaolei to present at Goldschmidt2015 next week!
Genming and Xiaolei will be representing the Summons Lab in Prague next week for the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference. This will be the 25th anniversary of the meeting, and to celebrate the organising committee will have 25 plenary talks highlighting 25 major advances in geochemistry over the last quarter century. At 15:45 on Thursday, Genming will […]
The Summons Lab go to Chicago for AbSciCon2015
The Astrobiology Science Conference 2015 (AbSciCon2015) was held at the Hilton in Chicago on June 15-19. The Summons Lab was well represented, with postdocs and postgraduate students presenting oral and poster presentations of their work. The conference brings together scientists who work on the interdisciplinary field of astrobiology. The focus of AbSciCon2015 was on habitability […]
