Meet the PI
Dr. Merve Yeşilbaş
Merve studies the geochemical changes on planet Mars focusing extreme environments on Earth from the coldest tundras of Arctic to the hottest volcanic environments. She has a wide expertise studying martian analogue mineral-water and ice interfacial chemistry and cryomineral formation using cryogenic vibrational spectroscopy techniques. Then, she uses the Martian spacecraft data to bridge Earth to Mars. Merve is the Assistant Professor and Group Leader of the Yeşilbaş Lab, based at Umeå University.
Merve completed her PhD studies at Umeå University, and then received several postdoctoral grants from Swedish Research Council and NASA to study Mars (geo)chemistry in the SETI Institute and the NASA Astrobiology Institute.
Our current Mars explorers!
-
Dmitry Shevela
Senior Research Engineer
Dmitry builds up our planetary FTIR spectrometer to work under extreme space conditions.
-
Lucas Demaret
Postdoctoral Fellow
I study how the Martian analogue soils retain the water and organics using cryogenic Raman and FTIR spectroscopy. My goal is to find if life could ever exist on Mars.
-
Trung Nguyen
PhD Student
I study the deliquescence features of martian analogue clays and salt mixtures using Dynamic Vapour Sorption (DVS) and Cryogenic-FTIR. My goal is to find potential water resources for future human missions to Mars.
-
Amanda Ekman
Bachelor Student
I study how water retain in Fe-rich clay minerals at Mars-like temperatures using vibrational spectroscopy. My goal is to provide a fundamental insight into the aqueous history of Mars.
-
Juliette Labeille
Bachelor Student
I study the characterisation of lunar analogue soils using cryogenic Raman spectroscopy to find out water resources for future Moon missions.
-
Lab Alumni
Join the lab!
We are a fun, ambitious and enthusiastic group that values collaboration, creativity, and kindness. If you love space, Mars, and cryomineralogy, explore opportunities to join our lab!