Research scientist in Astrobiology at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Also affiliated with the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science in Seattle, WA.
I am an expert in astrobiology and planetary science, which allows me to lead research teams to help NASA understand life in the universe. I study the emergence of life on early Earth and ways to search for life elsewhere including Mars and "ocean worlds" like Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus. My team seeks to understand mineral-driven organic reactions and geochemistry relevant to biological and prebiotic systems. We do planetary environment simulations in the lab including making mini vent chimneys, making our own early Earth and Mars minerals, and simulating the energy in ocean systems using fuel cells. At JPL I lead the Origins and Habitability Lab, an astrobiology research group of students, postdocs, and research scientists. I am also the Investigation Scientist for the HiRISE instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and a Participating Scientist on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission.
The other big motivation for my work is outreach and education. I mentor undergraduate and graduate students in my research team and have a particular interest in helping community college students find paths into research and STEM careers. I’m involved with various projects along these lines and always happy to meet like-minded collaborators.
I received my B.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Villanova University and my Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of Southern California. As a student I did internships at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD; Marathon Oil Company in Houston, TX; and JPL in Pasadena, CA. After graduate school I was a post-doctoral fellow at Caltech/JPL and then with the NASA Astrobiology Institute.
Email: lmb@lauriebarge.com
For students interested in an internship: read the OHL's intern instructions and my student mentoring page before emailing me, and follow those instructions.