The Fagradasfjall eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Southwest Iceland began in March of 2021 and due to its proximity to Reykjavik, it was visited and studied by researchers from around the world. Funded by a National Science Foundation RAPID Grant, our group investigated the initial colonization of microorganisms to the cooled lava flow to understand ecological succession in volcanic environments. How organisms sequester nutrients and survive the initial stages of colonization has important implications for how ecosystems develop over geologic timescales as well as potentially what life might look like in volcanic systems on Mars. The taxonomic diversity and microbial biomass of these very young lava samples were compared to older lava flows in the area to understand how the microbial community structure changes over time (~1000s of years).
The atmosphere is one of the last largely unexplored ecosystems on Earth. Little is known about the microorganisms that disperse across vast distances using global wind currents. Funded by the Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship program, I explore soil-atmospheric coupling in high latitude volcanic systems (the Icelandic Highlands) as an analog for Mars. Understanding the dispersal and survival mechanisms of microorganisms in basaltic sandsheets is critical for evaluating the potential for forward contamination of organisms from Earth to Mars.
Funded by NASA’s Planetary Science and Technology Through Analog Research (PSTAR) program, the Rover–Aerial Vehicle Exploration Network (RAVEN) will build upon the next generatin of planetary exploration missions that will utilize unmanned aerial systems (UAS). RAVEN is building upon the success of the Ingenuity Helicopter and will open the frontier for new integrated mission architectures using rover in combination with a drone with more sophisticated payloads, such as sampling capabilities. RAVEN will use the 2014–2015 Holuhraun lava flow as a testing ground for this cutting edge technology. Holuhraun provides an exceptional analog for volcanic regions on Mars.
