Sean McMahon

I am an astrobiologist: a natural scientist interested in life, the universe, and the relationship between them. I lead the Planetary Palaeobiology Group in the School of Physics and Astronomy and the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh, where I also co-direct the UK Centre for Astrobiology, teach a variety of science courses, and run Edinburgh’s unique new MSc programme in Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences.

Current interests span the search for life on Mars, the origin and evolution of life on Earth, the chemistry of fossilization, the fossil record of bacteria, the philosophy of astrobiology, and the problem of false positive detections of life in very ancient or remote contexts. Research in my group combines field, analytical, theoretical and experimental approaches and is currently funded by the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the Leverhulme Trust, among other sources.

If you wish, you can peruse my blog or read my career highlights and publications. Please contact me if you are interested in working with me as a PhD student or postdoctoral fellow. My CV is available on reasonable request.

Thanks for your interest in my work,

Sean