Biography

Nathalie joined the SETI Institute (SI) in 1998 as a Senior Astrobiologist. She was named Director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SI in August 2015. In addition to leading the scientific vision at the SI, she leads projects in astrobiology, develops science exploration strategies for Mars, Titan, and the Outer Solar System icy moons, and designs robotic field experiments. She explores high-altitude lakes in the Andes, where environmental conditions are analogous to early Mars. With her team, she documents life's adaptation to extreme environments, the effects of rapid climate change on lake ecosystems and habitats, their geobiological signatures, and their relevance to planetary exploration. Nathalie holds the women's world record for free and scuba diving at altitude (Licancabur Summit Lake, 5,940 m).

Planetary Missions, Astrobiology Science & Technology

Nathalie was the spokesperson for the selection of the Gusev crater as the landing site for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit rover and was a member of the MER science team from 2002 to 2019. She is leading Astrobiology Science and Technology projects, including the NASA Nomad rover field experiment (1997), and other NASA ASTEP-funded science and technology projects, including Life in the Atacama (2003-2006) and Subsurface Life in the Atacama (2011-2015), NASA ASTEP Planetary Lake Lander project (2011-2015) that explored the impact of ice loss on planetary lakes using technology developed for the exploration of Titan, NASA NAI Changing Planetary Environment and the Fingerprints of Life (2015-2022). Her current work focuses on reframing the search for life in the universe and developing new methods, tools, and exploration strategies for biosignature detection.