معرفی
Professor Samuel Kounaves holds dual roles as Visiting Professor at Imperial College London's Department of Earth Science and Engineering (since 2013) and Professor of Chemistry at Tufts University (since 1988). He is an Affiliate Scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a Consulting Scientist at the Technical University of Berlin. His research focuses on planetary geochemistry and astrobiology, particularly analyzing extraterrestrial environments using in-situ instruments. Key affiliations include leadership roles in NASA missions, including the Phoenix Mars Lander's Wet Chemistry Lab.
Education: D.Sc. (Ph.D.) in Chemistry from Université de Genève (1985), BS/MS from California State University (1978), and postdoctoral training at Harvard University (1987–1988). He also worked as a Research Chemist at the U.S. Naval Ocean Systems Center (1975–1979).
Research interests span Martian soil chemistry (discovering perchlorate's role in habitability and atmospheric dynamics), Antarctic geochemistry (linking Earth's arid environments to extraterrestrial processes), and Enceladus plume analysis (developing sensors for detecting microbial life). Funded by NASA and NSF, his work explores planetary habitability and prebiotic chemistry in extreme environments.
Langauges: Fluent in French and Greek. Grants include major NASA projects investigating biomarker preservation on Mars and Enceladus habitability.
