Skip to: site menu | section menu | main content

People

...who have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night


Click below for scientific articles and books:








Publications





"It has been said that the primary function of schools is to impart enough facts to make children stop asking questions. Some, with whom the schools do not succeed, become scientists"
    (opening words of The Camel's Nose by Knut Schmidt-Nielsen).

People:

David Catling
David C. Catling

Professor, Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences / cross-campus Astrobiology Program, at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, USA





Adjunct Prof., UW Dept of Atmospheric Sciences.

Areas of research:

  • The Coupled Evolution of Planetary Surfaces and Atmospheres; Planetary Atmospheres and Climate.
  • The Origin of Life; Evolution of the Earth's Atmosphere and the Co-evolution of Life and Biogeochemical Cycles; Astrobiology.
My academic family tree back about a century
Advisor-advisee tree based on post-doctoral, PhD, masters and undergrad research advisors and their advisees. Hopefully, a few little crumbs of wisdom have passed down this tree to me.

   
Brief Bio

  • 2023- present:  Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Citation: "For creative insights into coupling between Earth’s biota and its atmosphere over timescales of billions of years"
  • 2012-present: Professor, University of Washington, Seattle.
  • 2018-2022: Associate Chair for the Graduate Program, Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle.
  • 2009-2012: Associate Professor, Univ. of Washington
  • 2005-2008: European Union Marie Curie Chair at the University of Bristol, England & Affiliate professor, Univ. of Washington.
  • 2001: Jointly appointed to University of Washington Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences and Astrobiology Program
   Some co-workers

Kevin Zahnle (NASA Ames Research Center) - on all things astrobiology & planetary science
Jon Toner (Dept. Earth and Space Sciences) -- on the habitability of cold solar system environments: Mars, Enceladus, etc.
Roger Buick (University of Washington, Earth and Space Sciences) - on early Earth and astrobiology
Vikki Meadows  (UW Astronomy) -- leads the Virtual Planetary Lab & Univ. of Washington's astrobiology program
Tyler Robinson (University of Arizona) - on planetary atmospheres
David Montgomery (University of Washington, Earth and Space                                                     Sciences) - on the geology of Mars
 
   Current postdoctoral researchers:
   
    Ardith Bravenec (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences)
    Sebastian Haas (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences)
    Fabian Klenner (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences)

    Current graduate students

    Lucas Fifer (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences/ Astrobiology)
    Andrew Shumway (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences/            Astrobiology)
    Ping-Chun Lin (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences/ Astrobiology)
    Kimberly Sinclair (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences/ Astrobiology)
    Trent Thomas (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences/ Astrobiology)
    Danqiu Chen (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences/Astrobiology)
    Yuk-Chun Chan (Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences/ Astrobiology) -             co-advised with Becky Alexander
    
   Former Ph.D and M.S. students:
   Where are they now?


    Mark Claire (2008 PhD) Blue Marble Science
    Elliot Sefton-Nash (2010 PhD) Planetary Scientist, European
    Space Agency, European Space Research & Technology Centre
    (ESTEC), Noordwijk, Netherlands.
    Sanjoy Som (2010 PhD) - Research Scientist & Director, Blue 
    Marble Space. Also at NASA Ames Research Center
    Megan Smith (2015 MS) - Technical staff, Aerospace Corp.,
    El Segundo, Los Angeles, CA
Erik Goosmann (2018 MS) - Lab Data Manager, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Josh Krissansen-Totton (2019, PhD) Assistant Professor, University of Washington
Steven Sholes (2019, PhD) - Systems Engineer, NASA JPL
Owen Lehmer (2020, PhD) -  Researcher, Google LLC
Lauren O'Neil (2022 PhD) - Postdoc, Texas A&M University
Nick Wogan (2023 PhD) - Postdoc fellowship, NASA Ames Research Center
Zack Cohen (2023 PhD) - Postdoc fellowship, NASA Ames Research Center

   Former postdoctoral researchers:
   Where are they now?

    Zoe Todd (2020-2023) - Assistant Prof., U. Wisconsin, Madison.
Shintaro Kadoya (2017-2021), Assistant Prof., Tokyo Institute of Technology.
MacKenzie Day (2017-2018), Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
Benjamin Charnay (2014-16) - Researcher with CNRS ( Centre national de la recherche scientifique), at LESIA, the Paris     Observatory in Meudon, France.
Phil Pogge von Strandmann (2009-11) -Professor, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany.
Julien Foriel (2005-8) - Research Associate, Harvard University

   Former undergraduate researchers:
   Where are they now?


Benjamin Mousseau (2022) - Student at Yale University
MacKenzie Day (2010) - Assistant Professor, UCLA, after PhD U Texas, Austin & postdoc
David Bergsman (2009-2010) - Assistant Prof, Dept. Chem. Engineering, Univ. of Washington, after PhD (Stanford); & postdoc MIT.
Meelis Lootus (2007-8) - Univ. of Oxford D.Phil. in 2015. Director of AI Engineering, ML Technologies.
Chris Glein (2004-5) -  Lead Scientist, Southwest Research Institute.
Carie Frantz (2004) - Associate Prof., Weber State University, UT.
Elliott Ginder (2002-2004) -  Professor, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan; PhD from Kanazawa University.
Cindy Peacock (2003-2004) - was a Chemist at NOAA.
Charlie Barnhart (2003) - Associate Professor, Western Washington University.
Joannah Metz  (2001) -  Caltech PhD (2010). Geoscientist, Shell Oil.
Carol Paty (2000) -  Professor, University of Oregon, Eugene.
Hillary Waites  (1997) - Climate change attorney, Santa Clara, CA.

 

Back to top