Laura E Rodriguez

Laura Rodriguez joined the Lunar and Planetary Institute in 2022 as Staff Scientist. She received a dual-title PhD in Astrobiology and Geosciences from Penn State (2019) and a BSc in Geochemistry from Rice University (2013). From 2019-2022 she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory working with Dr. Laurie Barge in the Origins and Habitability Laboratory. She is a Mars Science Laboratory participating scientist, a Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group member, and science co-lead of the Enceladus Vent Explorer mission concept. Her research interests include investigating the origins of genetic precursors from CHONPS to macromolecules and developing machine learning strategies to both deconvolute organic-mineral trends in planetary/laboratory samples and facilitate the autonomous exploration of ocean worlds.