Highlighting Women in Geobiology at MIT: Dr. Emmanuelle Grosjean
Current Role: I work as an organic geochemist for Geoscience Australia (GA), Australia’s governmental geoscientific organisation, based in Canberra. GA can be loosely described as the Australian equivalent of the US Geological Survey. In my day-to-day job, I work in a multi-disciplinary team providing insights into Australia’s energy resource potential. Years in the Summons Lab: I started […]
Highlighting Women in Geobiology at MIT: Dr. Sabine Mehay
Current Role: I currently work as a Geochemist and Petroleum System Analyst for the oil and gas service company Schlumberger. I am based in Aachen, Germany. Years in the Summons Lab: I was part of the Summons Lab from January 2010 until February 2011. Favorite Memories: I have many good memories from my time at […]
How to Detect Life on Mars

Scientists from the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes instrument team develop method to detect the tiniest traces of life on other planetary bodies by Fatima Husain When Christopher Carr visited a green sand beach in Hawaii at the age of 9, he probably didn’t think that he’d use the little olivine crystals beneath his feet to […]
Highlighting Women in Geobiology at MIT: Dr. Paula Welander

Current Role: I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford. Years in the Summons Lab: July 2010 through Dec 2012 Favorite Memories: I remember how cold the lab was! I always had to wear multiple sweatshirts under my lab coat and would have to go get tea in the middle of […]
Highlighting Women in Geobiology at MIT: Dr. Jessica Whiteside

Current Role: I am an associate professor of geochemistry at the University of Southampton, based in the National Oceanography Centre in Southern England. I specialize in molecular paleontology, that is, I use fossil chemical fingerprints as clues to ancient ecologies and environmental change. Years in the Summons Lab: I was in the Summons lab in […]
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 […]
The Power of Persistence and the Scientific Method

Researchers identify a unique molecular fossil that tracks multicellular animal evolution. by Fatima Husain Evidence of ancient life on Earth is scattered around the globe. The most obvious examples of past life include visible fossils, preserved in sedimentary rocks in the geologic record, viewable in museums and paleontology laboratories alike. But the visible fossil record […]
Studying the Hotbed of Horizontal Gene Transfers
Global Microbiome Conservancy’s preliminary results reveal new insights into human gut microbiomes by Fatima Husain Story caption: A farming scene in rural Rwanda Credit: Christopher Corzett For over 200,000 years, humans and their gut microbiomes have coevolved into some of the most complex collections of living organisms on the planet. But as human lifestyles vary […]