I am a PhD candidate in astrobiology and geobiology at the University of Illinois Chicago, where I study the limits of life in extreme environments.

I use experimental and environmental approaches to address my research questions. In the laboratory, I study high-pressure microbial adaptation to simulate conditions found in subsurface oceans on icy moons such as Europa and Titan. In parallel, I investigate microbial communities in Yellowstone National Park, using hydrothermal systems as natural analogs for extreme and fluctuating planetary environments.

My interest in astrobiology developed from a long-standing curiosity about life beyond Earth, which I pursued through a background in molecular biology before transitioning into geobiology and planetary science. This interdisciplinary perspective allows me to connect microbial processes on Earth to broader questions about the potential for life elsewhere in the universe.

In addition to my research, I am interested in planetary protection and the responsible exploration of extraterrestrial environments, particularly how we can detect life without compromising the systems we seek to study.