Image: Merve Yeşilbaş
Research group The Yeşilbaş Lab investigates how minerals, water, and planetary environments interact to shape the bio(geo)chemical conditions required for life. Our research focuses on the catalytic roles of minerals and rocks in initiating, stabilizing, and preserving life sustaining chemical reactions, with a central goal of addressing a fundamental astrobiological question: Is there, or has there ever been, life on Mars?
We combine (geo)chemistry, astrobiology, and spectroscopy to understand how water influences planetary habitability and how geological materials may enable or constrain life on other worlds. Framed as a form of planetary “time travel,” our work seeks to reconstruct the chemical and climatic history of Mars, and comparable icy worlds, to assess their past and present potential to support life and future human exploration.
A key strategy of the lab is the use of Earth’s extreme environments, including volcanic regions (e.g. Hawaiʻi) and polar settings (e.g. Antarctica), as Mars analogue systems. These environments allow us to study mineral–water interactions under conditions similar to those found on Mars, providing insight into how rocks and soils preserve water, stabilize reactive interfaces, and facilitate essential bio(geo)chemical processes.
To address our overarching goal, we focus on several interconnected questions:
Our research centers on spectroscopic investigations of minerals, rocks, and soils collected from terrestrial analogue environments. By examining these materials at the molecular level, we explore how minerals can act as catalysts, preserving water and enabling (prebiotic) chemical reactions essential for sustaining life.
An essential component of our work is the integration of laboratory spectroscopy with spacecraft data. We bridge experimental results with orbital and rover observations, particularly from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), to improve interpretations of Martian surface processes and the detectability of water‑related signatures and potential biosignatures.
This integrative approach allows us to better understand how Martian regolith and rocks stabilize water under extreme conditions and how these processes may be recorded in remote‑sensing data.
The Yeşilbaş Lab collaborates with international partners across academia and space agencies, including the SETI Institute, NASA (Ames Research Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center), Southwest Research Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, CNRS, German Aerospace Center (DLR), and the University of Vienna.
Our research is supported by the Swedish Research Council, Umeå University, the Kempe Foundation, the Carl Tryggers Foundation, the European Science Foundation, and NASA.
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yesilbaslab.com
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