Angel Mojarro

Download my Curriculum Vitae PDF / Google Scholar / ResearchGate

Research Interests

Biomarker Taphonomy; Origins of Life

Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Ph.D., Geochemistry, February, 2023

Thesis: Experiments on Biomarker Preservation

Supervisor: Dr. Roger E. Summons
Coursework: Microbial Physiology, Molecular Biogeochemistry, The Phylogenomic Planetary Record, Stable Isotope Fractionation, Field Geobiology, Mass Spectrometry for Geobiologists, Differential Equations, Introduction to Computer Science and Programming in Python

Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Sc.B., Geological Sciences, May, 2011
Coursework: Planetary Geology, Stratigraphy and Sedimentation, Mineralogy, Petrology, Global Environmental Remote Sensing, Structural Geology, Geochemistry, Evolution of a Habitable Planet, Limnology, Physical Processes in Geology, Fossil Record, Oceanography, Ocean Biogeochemical Cycles, Evolution of the Lacustrine Ecosystem, Biochemistry, General and Organic Chemistry, Single Variable Calculus, Basic Physics

Research Experience

Solar System Exploration Division

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA, February 2023 - Present

Postdoctoral Fellow

• Characterize organic composition of returned samples

• Investigate parent-body processes and prebiotic synthesis of organic compounds

Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, August 2017 - January 2023

Graduate Student

• Investigate the diversity of early diagenetic processes leading to kerogen formation in different environmental settings

• Constrain the environmental settings for the origin of life via the RNA World through oligomer stability and nucleotide polymerization under simulated early Earth and Mars conditions

Department of Molecular Biology

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, March 2015 - July 2017

Junior Researcher

• Aid in the development of a nanopore-based metagenomics instrument for future life-detection missions on Mars

• Reproduce synthetic Mars analog soils from in-situ Mars rover and lander mineralogical analyses

• Develop novel nucleic acid extraction and library preparation assays for sequencing microbes in low-biomass and recalcitrant synthetic Mars analog soils

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Columbia University, New York, New York, USA, August 2012 - July 2014

Research Staff Assistant

• Curated and archived rock samples and sediment cores in the LDEO Core Repository collection

• Assisted investigators from the national and international geoscience community in the planning and execution of sample collection activities, including sea-going expeditions

• Educated teachers, students, and the public about the importance of the Core Repository for developing a better understanding of Earth processes such as climate change, ocean acidification and tectonics