Jessie Phillpot

About

Jessie began studying an integrated masters (Mphys) in Astronomy, Space Science and Astrophysics in 2018, and was particularly interested in Planetary Science and Astrobiology. She completed her masters dissertation, ‘Prebiotic Synthesis Using Formamide in a Simulated Early Martian Environment’, under Professor Nigel Mason in 2022, and graduated the same year with first class degree classification. After taking just over a year away from studying, she began her Ph.D, also under Professor Nigel Mason, in January 2024.

Research interests

Jessie's Ph.D research project is titled ‘Organic Survivability on Mars’, which focuses on the investigating of the decomposition of various organics in a simulated Martian environment. The overall objective is to identify significant decomposition products that are ideal candidates for searches conducted by future Mars missions. Samples of hydrated perchlorate salts and organics are subjected to ionizing radiation (UV, Protons, Electrons, Gamma etc..) under Mars relevant temperatures and pressures, and are then analysed using FTIR, RAMAN and LCMS.