Dr. Rosa SANTOMARTINO

I am a space microbiologist with an interest in understanding how microbes behave under space conditions, and how we could use this knowledge to support space exploration in a sustainable way. I am also keen in understanding how the knowledge acquired by studying these mechanisms can help us solving compelling environmental issues on Earth. During my postdoc​​, I developed an interest in the concepts of ISRU, BLSS, and more generally how we could harness the power of microorganisms to sustain human space exploration. In 2020, I was invited to collaborate with Italian astrobiologists for the creation of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) Roadmap for Space Life Sciences. Since April 2022, I am pursuing a Leverhulme supported project on plastic-biodegrading microorganisms, which has the aim to study how microorganisms could be used to degrade, recycle and upcycle plastics and other waste (e.g., electronic waste) in space, and how this could inform terrestrial technologies as well. This project is in collaboration with Wallace Lab. I am also part of the Science for Sustainability HUB at the University of Edinburgh. I am strongly committed in supporting equality, diversity and inclusion in academia and anywhere else, and I believe in the importance of public outreach.