Kennda Lynch
Astrobiologist and engineer for NASA programs / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Kennda Lian Lynch is an American astrobiologist and geomicrobiologist who studies polyextremophiles.[1][2] She has primarily been affiliated with NASA.[3] She identifies environments on Earth with characteristics that may be similar to environments on other planets, and creates models that help identify characteristics that would indicate an environment might host life.[4] Lynch also identifies what biosignatures might look like on other planets.[4][5] Much of Lynch's research on analog environments has taken place in the Pilot Valley Basin in the Great Salt Desert of northwestern Utah, U.S.[6] Her work in that paleolake basin informed the landing location of NASA's Perseverance Rover mission—at another paleolake basin called Jezero Crater.[7] Jim Greene, Chief Scientist at NASA, called Lynch "a perfect expert to be involved in the Perseverance rover."[8] Helping to select the proper landing site for NASA's first crewed mission to Mars in 2035 is another of Lynch's projects.[9] Lynch has appeared in multiple television series, as well as The New York Times,[7] Nature,[10] Scientific American,[11] and Popular Science.[6] Cell Press designated Lynch one of the most inspiring Black scientists in the United States.[12]
Kennda Lynch | |
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Born | United States |
Occupation(s) | Astrobiologist, scientist, engineer |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astrobiology, science, engineering |
Institutions | Universities Space. Research Association - Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Johnson Space Center, Georgia Institute of Technology/University of Montana, Jacobs Sverdrup/ Lockheed Martin Space Operations, International Space Station Program, Abbott Laboratories, The Boeing Company |
Academic advisors | Dr. David Klaus (grad), Dr. Junko Munakata Marr (grad), Dr. John Spear (grad) |