Emily Kurfman

As part of the NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities program, Emily is working on the development of hardware and analytical methods with possible future applications towards the search for signs of extraterrestrial life on potential future spaceflight missions to Europa (one of Jupiter’s moons) or Enceladus (one of Saturn’s moons), where there is evidence for liquid water oceans. Her project involves the development of methodology to look for chemical signatures that indicate the presence of cells in samples collected in situ on these ocean worlds. She is working to 3D print a device for cell enrichment and lysis, as well as develop methods to analyze the resulting samples on-line by capillary electrophoresis with various detection methods, including UV, conductivity, and mass spectrometry.