Nationality American Name Dirk Schulze-Makuch | Role Professor Fields Astrobiology, Geology | |
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Born 29 January 1964 (age 60)
Giessen, Germany ( 1964-01-29 ) Institutions Technical University, Berlin
German Aerospace Centre, Berlin
Washington State University
University of Texas at El Paso
University of Wisconsin
Justis-Liebig-University Giessen Germany Alma mater Justis-Liebig-University Giessen Known for (with L.N. Irwin) Life in the Universe (book) Notable awards Friedrich-Wilhelm Bessel Award (2010) Books Cosmic Biology: How Life, Megacatastrophes!: Nine Strange, Alien Encounter: A Scientifi, We Are Not Alone: Why We Have, Voids of Eternity: Alien Enc | ||
Dirk Schulze-Makuch (born 1964) is a professor at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Washington State University. He is best known for his publications on extraterrestrial life, being coauthor of four books on the topic: A One Way Mission to Mars: Colonizing the Red Planet (2011), We Are Not Alone: Why We Have Already Found Extraterrestrial Life (2010), Cosmic Biology: How Life could Evolve on Other Worlds (2010), and Life in the Universe: Expectations and Constraints (2004, 2008). In 2012 he published with David Darling Megacatastrophes! Nine Strange Ways the World Could End. In 2013 he published the second edition of his science fiction novel Alien Encounter. Together with Paul Davies he proposed in 2010 exploration of Mars by a one-way trip to the planet.
Contents
- Education and career
- Scientific research
- Patents
- Awards
- Media activity
- Academic books
- Popular science books
- Science fiction novel
- References
Education and career
His upbringing was in Giessen, Germany, where he received his Diplom-Degree (M.S.) in Geology from Justus Liebig University in 1991. In 1996 he obtained his Ph.D. in Geosciences from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. After having worked as Senior Project Hydrogeologist at Envirogen, a Princeton-based research and consulting firm, for which he investigated subsurface hydrocarbon spills, he became in 1997 Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. In 1998 he joined the University of Texas at El Paso as assistant professor, investigating microbe and chemical transport in groundwater, and microbial interaction in a planetary environment. From there he joined Washington State University in 2004: first as Associate Professor, since 2010 as Professor at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, with focus on astrobiology and planetary habitability.
Scientific research
Schulze-Makuch's research interests and publications range from astrobiology, hydrobiology, archeology, to cancer. To the viewer he may be best known for his work in astrobiology, in particular the possible existence of life on Venus, Mars, Titan, Europa, and Io. His book Life in the Universe (with L. N. Irwin) considers alternative physiologies for extraterrestrial life.
Patents
Removal of Biological Pathogens Using Surfactant Modified Zeolite. Patent No. US 7,311,839 B2. Date of patent: dec. 25, 2007.
Awards
Friedrich-Wilhelm Bessel Award (2010) by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Media activity
The work of Schulze-Makuch has received much attention. It has been the subject of TV programs on the BBC, the National Geographic and the Discovery Channel, and of numerous articles in magazines such as New Scientist, The Guardian and Der Spiegel.