NASA Postdoctoral Program - Chemical and physical processes that impact habitability and life-detection investigations

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA's missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology. This specific opportunity focuses on investigating chemical and physical interactions that affect organic and biosignature detections in Solar System exploration. The research will examine how local environmental conditions and instrument parameters influence measurements critical to habitability and life-detection goals for upcoming missions. The successful candidate will investigate topics such as chemical/physical interactions with complex sample matrices, develop techniques to improve detection methods, and elucidate relationships between detected materials and their broader scientific context. Research will utilize flight-relevant techniques including mass spectrometry, chromatography, and spectroscopy to address questions about organic detection and characterization on presently or previously habitable Solar System bodies.