Astro- or Geobiology » People

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"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

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

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.
  

• Involvement with NASA's missions to the planet Mars :
• Data analysis from the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey orbiters
  
• Science Team member for NASA's Phoenix lander (landed on Mars in 2008)
• Science Team member for NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover (landed on Mars in 2021)

• Working within the Virtual Planetary Lab to understand the habitability of Earth and other planets.

• An investigator with the Simons Collaboration on the Origin of Life. See my project page with the Simons Foundation.

My academic family tree back about a century

   
Brief Bio

• 2026-present: Fellow of the Geochemical Society and European Association of Geochemistry. Citation: for " fundamental contributions to understanding the co-evolution of Earth’s environment and its biota. His keen insights shine new light on the crucial role of free oxygen in the evolution of life and of how the early environment may have sparked the origin of life"

• 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.

• Spring-Summer 2018:
  
• Leverhulme Visiting Professor, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, England;
• Visiting Fellow, Darwin College, Cambridge, England.

• 2017-2018: Senior Research Visitor, European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile

• 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
  

• 1995-2001: NASA Ames Research Center, California, in the Planetary Systems Branch, Space Science Division

• 1994: D.Phil in Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford, England.

   Some co-workers

 
   Current postdoctoral researchers:
   

    Current graduate students
    Trent Thomas (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences/ Astrobiology)
    Danqiu Chen (Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences/Astrobiology)

   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

   Former postdoctoral researchers:
   Where are they now?
   Fabian Klenner (2023-2025) - Assistant Prof. UC Riverside.
   Ardith Bravenec (2021-2024) - Scientist, NASA Johnson Space         Center
   Sebastian Haas (2021-2024) - Scientist, carbon capture, Germany
    Zoe Todd (2020-2023) - Assistant Prof., U. Wisconsin, Madison.

   Former undergraduate researchers:
   Where are they now?


 

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