Was Mars ever alive? Its minerals may remember.
I study water–rock interactions on early Mars and ask whether its ancient environments could have supported life. Did life leave its mark? Answering that means working across every scale the planet offers — from a grain of dust to the whole globe.
From micrometers to kilometers
Geochemistry on the bench
I synthesize iron minerals to reconstruct environmental conditions on ancient Mars.
Robotic field geology
With Perseverance I investigate Martian rocks up close, searching for traces of past life.
Mapping habitability from orbit
From orbit I map water-rich minerals, tracing where Mars was once habitable.
Science team · ops planner
Science team
Mastcam-Z · SuperCam · PIXL
Water frost on Martian mountaintops
I discovered morning water frost on the solar system's tallest volcanoes, where it was thought impossible, in TGO/CaSSIS images. The finding made the cover of Nature Geoscience.
Why is Mars red?
I found that the planet's red dust owes its colour to ferrihydrite, not hematite as long assumed. Because ferrihydrite forms in cool water, it tells us early Mars was wetter, colder, and more habitable than previously thought.
Teller of Blue
Off the clock, I'm a DJ and radio host. As Teller of Blue on NTS.live and Radio Vilnius, I blend experimental electronic music with planetary science, sharing Mars with people who'd never pick up a journal.