EMSL scientist joins the hunt for signs of ancient life on Mars

Released: September 06, 2016
Researcher at EMSL tapped for knowledge of rock chemistry, microbial life
Sherry Cady is in her laboratory at EMSL. In her right hand is a rock from Morocco that is nearly 2 billion years old and has locked in signs of ancient life on Earth. In her left hand, she holds dozens of samples of extremophiles, microbes that live in some of Earth's more extreme environments. Her knowledge positions her to identify signs of ancient life on other planets.

Sherry Cady, a scientist at EMSL at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, or PNNL, is part of a research team investigating whether there has ever been life on Mars. An expert on rock chemistry and microbial signatures, Cady and other members of the research project are advancing the types of detection strategies that could support the search for fossilized life on the red planet. Rovers are being developed to probe for fossilized signs of life will be sent to Mars in 2020 by the NASA and European ExoMars programs.

Cady is founding editor of Astrobiology, a journal dedicated to understanding life's origin, evolution and distribution in the universe. She will receive $1.4 million over the next four years from the NASA Astrobiology Institute to do the research.

Read the PNNL news release.