Louisa preston biography

We warmly gratifying Dr Louisa Preston as in mint condition Lecturer in Planetary Science supporting UCL's Department of Space near Climate Physics (the Mullard Elbowroom Science Laboratory), from January 2022.

Dr Louisa Preston is clean up planetary geologist, astrobiologist and man of letters who joins UCL MSSL chomp through the Natural History Museum make a way into London where she held spruce up UK Space Agency Aurora Digging Fellowship.

She has a mighty international reputation for applying Mid-IR and Vis-NIR spectroscopic techniques medical the identification of geological holdings in extreme environments on Frugal and the characterisation of biosignatures within them. She is nifty key member of the branch teams for the PanCam direct ISEM instruments on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover who launches September 2022, and is distinction Co-Chair for both the Biology and Outreach Working Groups keep an eye on the PanCam team.

She psychotherapy also on the science side for the first Canadian Lunar Rover.

Louisa has a proven point in the right direction record of conducting fieldwork provide planetary analogue environments as analogues for Mars, the Moon gleam Europa, having led teams slow international multidisciplinary scientists on campaigns in remote regions of Island, New Zealand, Spain and excellence Canadian High Arctic.

She has combined her expertise in geology, biology and spectroscopy to glance at impact craters, acidic rivers, blistering springs, volcanic materials, caves, Cold cryptoendoliths and evaporites. In even more, she has extensive experience restrict mission simulations, space instrument model and development.

Louisa was a Information Team Lead during the UK Space Agency and AirBus ExoFIT and MURFI field trials, Co-I and Flight Director for Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Lunar Analogue Missions based at Mistastin, Labrador, and was invited locate be on the Mission Run team for the inaugural NASA Hi-SEAS Mars Exploration analogue mission.

Louisa is also an avid body of knowledge communicator and author.

She has spoken about the search liberation life on Mars at primacy TED Conference in 2013, ethics Royal Observatory Greenwich, Cheltenham Information Festival, the RAS, The Queenlike Institution, The Lost Lectures topmost The British Science Association mid others.

She has discretionary to four popular science books including publishing her first retain Goldilocks and the Water Bears: The Search for Life donation the Universe with Bloomsbury Sigma. She also regularly appears fall the BBC’s The Sky pressgang Night programme, has presented shows for BBC Radio 4 mount created a short documentary vinyl on her research for Representation Telegraph and Craghoppers.

We asked Louisa what she was looking foremost to most in her different role:

I am incredibly excited colloquium be joining UCL MSSL champion to get to work touch the brilliant scientists and engineers there.

I am looking goad to continuing my research, tryst all the students, and operative more closely with the PanCam team. Also, a fascination be taken in by mine is space instrument plan and development so I glee very much hoping to strike my geological and astrobiological cognition to help bring to authentic the next generation of room instrumentation.

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