Dr Mario Toubes-Rodrigo

I did my PhD at the Manchester Metropolitan University titlef "Geomicrobiology of the basal ice layer at Svínafellsjokull, South East Iceland" looking for what kind of microorganisms inhabiti the lowermost layer of ice in glacier and what kind of implication these microbes could have in relevant processes such as mineral weathering, soil formation, and greenhouse gas production.

As part of the AstrobiologyOU Research Group, my role as post-doctoral research associate is to identify and isolate microorganisms from the sulphate-rich environments and analyse the gases produced. These environments have been regarded as potential analogue for Mars, and they could contain crucial keys about potential present or past life on Mars. Additionally, we try to grow microorganisms from sulphate-rich environments under martian conditions to study the viablity of life on the Red Planet.