USC Today

Kenneth H. Nealson

Astrobiology expert focusing on the evolution of life in the universe and microbial life in extreme environments
  • Wrigley Professor of Environmental Sciences
  • Director - Wrigley Institution for Environmental Studies
  • Professor Emeritus of Earth Science
  • Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences
  • USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Office: (213)740-4861
Links:

Expertise

  • Microbial Ecology
  • Environmental Microbiology
  • Marine Microbiology
  • Sustainability
  • Waste disposal and recycling
  • Life in Extreme Environments
  • Astrobiology -- Life Detection

Languages

  • French
  • Russian
  • English

Additional Information

  • Worked at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography as a marine microbiologist
  • Worked at the Center for Great Lakes Studies (Univ. Wis.) as a freshwater ecologist
  • Worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Caltech) as the project scientist for a Mars Mission
  • Led two NRC documents dealing with life detection and Planetary Protection
  • Have one TED.MED talk on electric bacteria