Canadian Astrobiology Training Program (CATP)

Post-doctorate candidates - To see a picture of the candidate place your cursor over their name

Name	Institute	Supervisor	Research area
Long Li Long Li	University of Toronto	Barbara Sherwood Lollar	Serpentinization (a process of hydrothermal alteration of olivine-bearing mantle rocks at relatively low pressure and temperature conditions) has been proposed to potentially support the energy and material required for the first life on Earth and other planets (if there is any). My research in Toronto mostly employs lab experiments, field observations and numerical modeling to examine the cycling of some life-constituting elements, particularly nitrogen and carbon, in the Archean serpentinite settings, their interplay with the deep biosphere and the implications to early life.
John E. Moores John E. Moores	University of Western Ontario/Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration	Dr. Gordon Osinski	Assessing habitability is the first step in determining where life may have arisen and where it may still persist elsewhere in our Solar System. Within these broad strokes, it is important to recognize that even in largely inhospitable regions, isolated pockets may persist in which conditions are sufficiently clement to shelter biological systems or biomarkers. Thus, my work focuses on understanding the potential for habitability of Mars, in particular for ice-wedge polygons and other small-scale geomorphologic terrains in the Northern Arctic. I seek not only to determine whether it is possible that these kinds of features are indeed "safe harbours" of life in the present era, but also I hope to help determine robotic techniques by which we may explore them.
Nadia C.S. Mykytczuk Nadia C.S. Mykytczuk	McGill University	Dr. Lyle Whyte, Dr. Boswell Wing, Dr. Barbara Sherwood-Lollar	The microorganisms that inhabit Earth’s extremely cold environments, such as permafrost saline springs in the Canadian High Arctic, represent the best analogues for life that might be found in Martian liquid water habitats and methane plumes.My research projects will target the collective molecular traits of microbial communities in two extreme analogue sites: the Gypsum Hill (GH; 7.5% salinity, -1.3 to 7 °C water temperature, air temperatures typically below - 40 °C) and Lost Hammer (LH; 23 % salinity, 12 to -18 °C sediment temperature, 50% methane) springs on Axel Heiberg Island. The primary goal will complete metagenomic analyses of the GH chemoautotrophic, sulfur oxidizing, phototrophic-independent microbial streamers (predominantly Thiomicrospira sp.), as well as the anaerobic methane-oxidizing LH sediment community. Profiling the metaproteome will further uncover the predominant metabolic enzymes required for microbial energetics in sulphur and methane-rich conditions. In situ geochemical and isotopic analyses of the sites will determine the biogeochemical sulphur and methane cycling. Together, the meta-genomic/proteomic analyses combined with geochemical tracing offer a powerful method to uncover the mechanisms for microbial interactions within these extreme subzero hypersaline cryoenvironments.
Christopher R. Omelon Christopher R. Omelon	University of Western Ontario	Gordon Southam	My research explores the diversity and activity of microbial communities in aquatic and terrestrial habitats and the role bacteria play through biogeochemical interactions in shaping both past and present natural environments. My long-term goals are to understand relationships between the geochemical environment and microbial diversity by identifying key geochemical processes that, when combined with microbial and molecular analyses, explain how microorganisms are involved in complex processes such metal sorption, redox transformations, nutrient and element cycling, and biomineralization. My scientific approach aims to develop novel hypotheses that help our understanding of how microrganisms influence the geochemistry of natural systems through the use of a wide array of field and laboratory tools and techniques, including exciting recent developments in electron microscopy and synchrotron radiation. My current research direction focuses on the geochemical dynamics of microbe-mineral environments, including both physiological and phylogenetic investigations cryptoendolithic habitats as well as examination of the cell-surface reactivity of bacteria directly involved in the weathering of sedimentary rocks – a process of potential global importance for silicate weathering and carbon sequestration studies. In addition to my primary research, I am studying the mechanisms for biologically induced carbonate precipitation and microbialite formation in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, the speciation and cycling of arsenic and antimony in the El Tatio geothermal fields of northern Chile, the molecular and physiological diversity of thermophilic arsenite-oxidizing and arsenate-reducing bacteria from this habitat, as well as microbe-mineral interactions in a wide geographic range of other natural environments.
Pablo Sobron Sanchez Pablo Sobron Sanchez	Canadian Space Agency	Richard Leveille (CSA), Boswell Wing (McGill University), Ed Cloutis (U. of Winnipeg)	My research is mainly aimed to understand the conditions that led to the formation of (hydrated) sulfates and other minerals such as phyllosilicates on Mars, and if biomediation is a possibility. Joining CATP will allow me to characterize active, gas-dominated, basalt-hosted, acid-sulfate weathering systems on Earth as potential bio/geo/mineralogical analogs. Understanding analog basaltic acid-sulfate systems on Mars-like settings and their ability to support life provides a way to assess the astrobiological potential of early Mars.
Dirk Schumann Dirk Schumann	University of Western Ontario	Neil Banerjee (UWO) and Hojatollah Vali (McGill U.)	Biominerals, which are minerals produced by organisms, have been proposed as potential biosignatures to infer the presence of extinct and extant life in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial rocks (e.g., Martian Meteorite ALH84001). Our understanding, however, of the complex processes that occur during biomineralization remains rudimentary. Using samples collected from University Valley and Lake Untersee in the Antarctica, two regions of interest as possible analogues for the polar regions of Mars as well as the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, I will investigate the processes of microbial mineralization and biological induced geochemical and mineralogical alteration signatures to understand the key mechanisms at bio-inorganic interfaces. This is achieved by integrating conventional and advanced analytical techniques such as laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM & TEM), electron microprobe analyses (EMPA), and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS).
Lori Ziolkowski Lori Ziolkowski	McMaster University	Greg Slater	My postdoctoral work is investigating the carbon cycling of endolithic communities, or communities that grow in the cavities of porous rocks. These communities have been identified in mid-latitude and polar deserts. I am investigating the correlation between community structure and turnover these endolithic communities.