People
Kenneth Williford
Primary Investigator: 2012/2018
Ken Williford is an astrobiologist and directs the abcLab. He is also the Deputy Project Scientist for the Mars 2020 mission.
Michael Tuite
Laboratory manager: 2013/2018
Michael is an isotope biogeochemist who's research focuses on the interaction of the Earth and its living inhabitants from the earliest evidence for life to the present. He is particularly interested in nitrogen biogeochemistry in Paleozoic epeiric seas.
Daniel Petrizzo
Postdoctoral Fellow: 2014/2016
Dan Petrizzo was a post-doc in the abcLab from 2014 to 2016. His research in the abcLab focused on analysis of hydrogen isotopes of water trapped in clays. Dan is now a Systems Engineer on the Mars 2020 mission.
Fernanda Mora
Founding Lab Manager: 2013/2015
Fernanda is an analytical chemist and renowned chef who served as the abcLab's first manager.
Adam Hoffman
Undergrad/Grad Intern: 2013/2018
Adam is a longtime abcLab intern and a gred student at UC Riverside
Katrine Hansen
Grad Intern: 2014/2016
Katrine is a graduate student at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
David Flannery
Postdoc/Collaborator: 2015/2015
David Flannery was an abcLab post-doc in 2014/2015. He fancies himself a stromatolite specialist and all-around field geologist. He currently works closely with the abcLab in his capacity as a research scientist working with the Mars 2020 PIXL instrument.
Lorenia Jimenez
Undergrad Intern: 2014/2016
Lorenia was an undergraduate intern from UC Irvine and all-around computing wunderkid.
Emily Ross
Undergrad Intern: 2015/
Emily was an undergraduate summer intern from Carleton College and a world-class jumber of rope.
Amanda Allen
Undergrad Intern: 2015/2018
Amanda is an undergraduate at UC San Diego and a multi-term intern.
Erica Gaspari
Undergrad Intern: 2016/
Erica was our first international undergraduate intern, joining us from her home in Brazil. Nice.
Ashley Manning-Berg
Grad Intern: 2016/2018
Ashley was a visitng gradute student from the University of Tennesse.
Meika Nwamoah
Undergrad Intern: 2016/
Meika is a high school teacher who came to the abcLab as a STAR fellow.
Alex Pontefract
Visiting Postdoc: 2018/
Alex is a geomicrobiologist with a research focus on tha habitabliity of impact zones.
Julene Aramendia
Visiting Postdoc: 2018/
Julene is a chemist with a specialty in raman spectroscopy. She has worked on the calibration targets for MastCamZ. Her collaboration with the abcLan entails the detection and analysis of kerogen in ancient rocks.