Marium Fernanders

Marium wearing a blue jacket with a NASA logo and smiling while looking away from the camera

Hi! My name is Marium Fernanders and I am a PhD- Candidate at CU: Boulder. I kind of stumbled into the field of astrochemistry/ planetary science, and I am so glad I did! When I was 18, I thought I was going to be a pharmaceutical chemist, and then I took organic and changed my mind REAL quick. Luckily for me, I stuck with chemistry and realized that I could use my degree to study my ultimate childhood passion finding life on another planet! Fast forward a few years, and I start my PhD program at CU: Boulder where I do laboratory experiments simulating the Martian environment to study the interaction of water vapor with surfaces (crystalline salts), in the hopes of determining if liquid water can form on the surface of Mars. If there is one refrain that is constant in planetary science is that when searching for life, look for liquid water first, and so that is what I’m doing. Happy #BlackInAstroWeek !

Connect with Marium on her Instagram!