Dr Emily Ingman
Emily is a Postdoctoral Researcher. While their PhD research focused on the chemistry of astrophysical environments and the processing of icy dust grains, their work at MSSL aims to provide a more in depth understanding of the composition of icy worlds, such as Europa. Through the identification and characterisation of terrestrial organic, ice and dust mixtures using IR spectroscopy, they are investigating the preservation of precursor organic molecules in addition to improving the spectral interpretation of potentially habitable bodies both in-situ and from orbit.
Connor Ballard
Connor is a 2nd year STFC funded PhD Student, who is deeply passionate about Geology, Planetary Science, and Astrobiology. He has a BSc in Geology with hands-on industry experience, alongside an MSc in Planetary Science. Currently a doctoral candidate specializing in Astrobiology and Planetary Geology, Connor's primary focus is exploring limits of biosignature preservation in Martian analogue environments. Inspired by Mars 2020 and the upcoming ExoMars Rosalind Franklin missions, he hopes to provide clarity on returned data which investigates the potential of past habitability. Connor is also passionate about science communication and is eager to share his knowledge with students and the public through various outreach projects.
Jessica Caughtry
Jess is a PhD student funded through the London NERC Doctoral Training Programme. She obtained an Oceanography Masters degree at the University of Southampton, before spending time at the European Space Agency where she further grew her passion for space science. Her current project mixes environmental science with astrobiology, researching the geochemistry, physics and extremophile microbiology associated with sulphur-ice environments and applying this knowledge as an analogue for icy moons like Europa.
CATHERINE REGAN
Catherine is a 3rd year PhD student based at MSSL who is studying the Mars solar wind interaction and its relation to surface and atmospheric dust, and ergo the habitability of Mars. Her background is in Environmental Geophysics, starting university focussed on Earth Sciences before realising she could apply this knowledge to other planets. She now uses the Mars Express satellite to investigate how dust storms on Mars influence magnetic boundaries in the Martian environment. Alongside her PhD she is a passionate science communicator, having created the project Eyes on Mars which visits schools across the country with the aim to raise awareness of UK based Mars Exploration.
MARINA BARCENILLA
Marina is a final-year PhD student co-supervised with Prof Lewis Dartnell at the University of Westminster, UK. Her research focus is the detection and characterisation of spectroscopic biosignatures on Mars by working with analogue samples from a number of locations on Earth. She is also an active science communicator producing events for her space science outreach project AromAtom, founded in 2017, and an award-winning Independent Perfumer and fragrance educator.