Rachel Harris
My work is motivated by the quest to explore the biotic fringe to better constrain the physical, geochemical, and molecular parameters that define the limits of habitability as we know it. More simply, I want to help answer one question: Are we alone in the Universe?
I have extensive field and bench experience collecting, characterizing, and analyzing metabolites of extremophiles from a variety of reducing environments including hydrothermal features, oligotrophic deep subseafloor sediments, and saline fracture fluids in the deep terrestrial subsurface. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Girguis Lab, I am actively involved in the NASA Astrobiology Program’s Network for Ocean Worlds, contributing to projects such as 1) the exploration of submarine hydrothermal fields for evidence of microbial methane metabolisms and their greater role in the global methane budget; 2) examining the relationship between trace element distributions and microbial assemblages on sulfide chimney samples; and 3) modeling the biosignature potential of redox gradients in the oceans of Enceladus and Europa.
Since 2022 I have been serving on the Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group, an international team of 16 competitively selected scientists advising NASA and ESA on the ~$7 billion Mars Sample Return Program, writing and reviewing institutional policies overseeing the recovery and curation of samples from the surface of Mars. I also serve as Co-President of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Postdoctoral Association (FASPDA), working closely with the FAS Postdoctoral Office to build community and advocate for postdocs at Harvard.
