Maryse Napoleoni

Maryse Napoleoni is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Geological Sciences, Free University Berlin, within the Department of Earth Sciences. She leads the Planetary Sciences and Remote Sensing working group and contributes to the Habitat-OASIS project, focusing on astrobiological investigations of ocean worlds and planetary analog environments.

Her educational background includes a Master of Science in Planetary Sciences and Space Exploration. She has developed expertise in mass spectrometry techniques for extraterrestrial sample analysis.

Her research centers on detecting biosignatures in ice grains from ocean worlds like Europa and Enceladus, using laboratory simulations to develop methods for upcoming missions such as Europa Clipper. She investigates lava tube environments on Earth as Mars analogs, studying organic preservation and habitability indicators. Her work bridges planetary geology, analytical chemistry, and astrobiology to assess extraterrestrial habitability potential.

Analysis of her publication trends reveals heavy emphasis on instrument development (particularly SUDA), oxidation state analysis of ice grains, and cellular biosignature detection at single-grain resolution. Her research consistently focuses on translating laboratory findings to space mission applications, with strong connections to Cassini data reanalysis and future Europa exploration.

Dr. Napoleoni actively collaborates on international analog missions, including HI-SEAS lunar and Martian simulations, and participates in German national initiatives for icy ocean world research. Her current work focuses on refining biosignature detection thresholds for upcoming spaceflight instruments.