Nisson, Devan
Education: PhD Geosciences
Location: California, USA
Contact: devan.nisson@bmsis.org
Links: www.devannisson.com, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Devan-Nisson?ev=hdr_xprf
Devan Nisson is joining us as our newest Affiliate at Blue Marble Space. She is an astrobiologist, originally from southern California, but now residing in the Bay Area. She has a particular interest in planetary or moon environments that could potentially harbor low-biomass extant life supported by abiotic redox and organic products. To approach life detection in these types of systems, she researches analog subsurface brines and water-rock dominated extreme environments on Earth that host relatively small amounts of chemotrophic microorganisms. She especially likes to study water radiolysis, and how this process can abiotically produce oxygen to support aerobic life. In her postdoc work she has looked further into understanding microbial behaviors and metabolism at the single-cell level, and wants to continue combining low-biomass microbiology, extremophile microbiology, and planetary sciences throughout her career. Aside from research, she likes spending time outdoors (especially anywhere that has abundant wildlife and interesting geology) and hanging out with her pet Momo. You can find out more about Devan at www.devannisson.com.