Meet the people who make up STEM Faculty.
2015 - present Senior Lecturer, Department of Physical Sciences (Planetary and Space Sciences)
2012-2015 Lecturer in Analytical Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences (Planetary and Space Sciences)
2009-2012 Lecturer in Analytical Sciences, Department of Chemistry
2003-2009 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute
Associate Director, AstrobiologyOU:
Astrobiology and organic cosmochemistry, including:
- Processing of carbon-rich Solar System bodies including asteroids, Enceladus, Phobos and Mars
- Survival of organisms and biomarkers in potentially habitable environments
- Potential habitability of icy moons including Enceladus and Europa
Education, learning and engagement lead
Lead member, SPEAR:
BEERS: Socio economic benefits of ESA's E3 programme (ESA-funded)
SEABASS: Socioeconomic Analysis and Benefits Assessment of Spaceport Scotland (OU/Research England QR-SPF)
Teaching-related research and scholarship, including:
- Understanding passive withdrawals on S111 (eSTEem project 2022/25)
- Co-Investigator, Embedding and sustaining inclusive practices in STEM (HEFCE, 2017-2019)
- Investigating the careers of Staff Tutors in STEM for Athena SWAN (eSTEeM project 2015/16)
- Sonification of depictions of numerical data (eSTEeM project 2015/16)
- The accessibility of chemistry for visual impaired students (eSTEeM project 2014/15)
- Gender Differences in completion and credit obtained in Level 2 study in Physical Sciences (eSTEeM project 2014/15)
Publications are available on Open Research Online.
Current PhD students:
Lewis Sym: Hydrogen Availability In The Europan Subsurface (OU)
Martyna Hodges: Evaluation of the Societal Impacts of Space (OU)
Silvio Sinibaldi: Planetary Protection: A New Era (OU)
Velislava Ilieva: The Influence Of Sulfur Cycling On Community Diversity In Hypersaline Mars Analogue Environments (CENTA)
Previous PhD students:
Alvaro del Moral: Microbial-Based Proxies for Europa's Habitability and Biosignature Detection (OU)
Alex Price: Microbial Nitrate-dependent Iron Oxidation and the Early Mars Environment (STFC)
Amy Dugdale: Biosignature modification in the Oxia Planum region (STFC)
Anushree Srivastava: Microbial Habitability of Magnesium Sulfate-rich Environments of Earth and Mars (OU)
Christopher Houghton: Defining a capitals approach to evaluating the socio-economic benefits of space exploration (FBL-OU)
Elliot Curtis-Harper: Biosignatures for life detection on Mars (STFC)
Grace Richards: The feasibility of in situ volatile analysis to investigate space weathering on Enceladus’ surface (Research England)
Michael Goodyear: Organic Chemistry and Mineral Interactions in the Solar System (OU Charter Studentship & STFC)
Peter Woolman: Biogeochemistry in the Deep Sub-surface Environment: the Key for Finding Potential Life on Mars. (EEE/OU)
Rachael Hamp: Geochemical cycling in the subsurface environment of Enceladus (STFC/OU)
Rebecca Wolsey: The chemical signatures of life on Mars (STFC)
Rebecca Wilson: Organic Material in Micrometeorites: Processes Affecting its Delivery to Planetary Environments (STFC)
Roy Adkin: Novel Fluorescent Sensors For Detecting Organic Compounds In Extra-Terrestrial Samples (STFC)
Steven Summers: Critical Zone bacterial ecology (OU)
Zoe Emerland: An experimental and numerical assessment of ejected martian biosignatures impacting Phobos (STFC)
National Teaching Fellow (2021) and NTF mentor and reviewer
Faculty Accessibility Coordinator (OU science)
Students in Secure Environments champion (OU science)
Deputy Associate Dean, Equal opportunities (2011-2016)
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
S111 Questions in science (Module Chair (B presentation))
S/XS841 Masters project in physical sciences (associate lecturer)
OpenLearn - The Search for Water on Mars (lead academic and co-author)
OpenLearn - 15 minutes on Mars (lead academic and co-author)
OpenLearn - Introduction to Planetary Protection (lead academic and co-author)
OpenLearn - Space: to boldly (but cautiously) go (lead academic and co-author)
And previously:
S201 Science and society (Module Deputy Chair and author of Topic 2 Water)
S350 Evaluating contemporary science (module team member)
S250 Science in context (Module team chair, also responsible for Topic 3, and an Associate Lecturer)
S104 Exploring science (Deputy Chair & Module Team member)
S240 Analytical science: health heritage and environments (Module team member & co-Chair, responsible for Book 2)
S804 Communicating Science (Associate lecturer)
S802 Science and the Public (Associate lecturer)
S810 MSc project module (Associate lecturer)
SXS810 MSc project module (Associate Lecturer)
Equality, diversity and inclusion:
- Faculty Accessibility Coordinator (science)
- Co-chair, OU Accessibility Referral's Panel
- Member (formerly Chair), Cross Faculty Accessibility Working Group
- Member, OU Accessibility Core Team
- Member (formerly Chair), School of Physical Sciences Equality and Diversity Team (formerly Athena SWAN/Juno self-assessment team)
And previously:
- Athena SWAN reviewer
- IoP Juno panel member
- Chair, Europlanet Diversity Committee and Diversity Officer for Europlanet-2024 Research Infrastructure
- Member, University’s STEM Gender Equality Steering Group
- Associate Editor of the International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology (GST).
- Chair STFC Nucleus award Panel panel
- STFC Leadership Fellowships in Public Engagement Panel member
- Formerly Chair STFC SPARK Awards
Co-Investigator on The Open University’s ‘Engaging opportunities’ project (Schools-University Partnership, SUPI) (2016-17)
Lead on RCUK SUPI/Science Learning Partnership 'Cutting Edge Science' project (2017)
