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Sarah Nielsen is a Biology and Biochemistry major with minors in Planetary Sciences, Astrobiology, and Emergency Medical Services. Sarah chose Planetary Sciences as a minor because she has been interested in space since she was a child and the PTYS and ASTRB minors allow her to take advantage of the University of Arizona’s great space related curriculum while continuing her love of exploration and discovery.

Sarah’s favorite Planetary Sciences class has been PTYS 214: Life in the Cosmos taught by Dr. Dante Lauretta. She took this as her first planetary science class during her first semester at the U of A. Sarah wanted to take a class that captured her combined interdisciplinary interests in the Earth and life sciences. She enjoyed learning how a few of the “simple” elements (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur) on the periodic table can form complex planetary systems that potentially sustain an environment to harbor life. This class also demontrated to Sarah how planetary science can contribute to other fields, like astrobiology, in answering some of the biggest questions about the universe, including how the planets of our Solar System originated and evolved, and how planetary conditions can impact life.

Sarah is currently working with Dr. Lauretta through the NASA Arizona Space Grant internship program, on a project studying how deep-sea samples near the Lost City Hydrothermal Field at the Atlantis Massif can be used as an analog for hydrothermal processes on asteroid Bennu. Sarah is using the electron microprobe in the Kuiper-Arizona Laboratory of Astromaterials Analysis to do this work.

Sarah plans on applying to M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. programs when she graduates. She wants to stay connected with space missions and make advancements in planetary sciences and astrobiology while also pursuing medicine as a physician.

When she is not working on schoolwork or research, Sarah enjoys practicing archery with the Wildcat Archery team and also enjoys drawing and painting. She is an ambassador for the Arizona Astrobiology Center, an activity which allows her to communicate her passion for astrobiology to the Tucson community through outreach events and other center projects.