Noah is majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology with minors in Astrobiology, Marine Science, and Geosciences. When Noah chose his major he decided to add a minor that satisfied his interest in space science and would help answer his big questions like “Where did we come from?” and “Are we alone in the universe?” He also wanted to take advantage of being on campus with such great space science programs!

Noah really enjoyed taking PTYS 214: Life in the Cosmos with Dr. Dante Lauretta. He took this course in Fall 2023 when the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample returned to Earth and was able to hear first-hand from Dr. Lauretta about the mission details and sample return. Dr. Lauretta’s enthusiasm inspired Noah to be more involved with astrobiology.

To support his passion for astrobiology, Noah began working at the Arizona Astrobiology Center, where he studies behavior in tardigrades. The project aims to measure any signals that may be produced by the tardigrades in association with the cryptobiosis behavior that makes them extremophiles. He is also completing a senior honors thesis project with Dr. Diane Thompson (Geosciences). The project uses corals to study paleoclimate patterns, specifically using manganese within the coral’s aragonite skeleton as a proxy for understanding wind patterns across the Pacific over time. Noah plans to apply to doctoral programs in evolutionary biology to research life on Earth, past and present, in order to understand macroevolutionary processes that can be applied to predicting how life would evolve on other worlds. 

When he isn’t studying or pursuing his research, Noah enjoys spending time as vice-president of the campus Marine Awareness and Conversation Society, focusing on outreach to teach the community about marine biodiversity and ecology.