Estelle Janin

Contact: ​​ejanin@asu.edu

Research interests: Exoplanet science, astrobiology, biosignatures, technosignatures

Education: MSci Natural Sciences (Astrophysics and Molecular & Cell Biology) at University College London (UCL), UK

Current Research: Estelle is a first year PhD student in the team. She is  investigating the nature of exoplanet atmospheres, exploring their diversity and their connection with surface and interior processes. Her goal is to better understand these unfamiliar environments and devise a new, agnostic framework to detect life on exoplanets. More specifically, she works on a new theory called Assembly Theory, which allows us to draw powerful insights from the chemistry of the environment and constrain the probability of life being present. She uses radiative transfer models and atmospheric retrieval tools to tie her research with observations and current / future instruments, as well as Bayesian probabilities to assess the relevant confidence levels. She also likes to dive into the philosophical aspects of her projects, whether it implies questioning the nature of life, the fundamentals of reality or the future of humanity. 

Personal: She has  a secret passion for Pre-Columbian archaeology and anthropology. She also loves sports and hiking in mountains all over the world!