Nathan Hadland received a Geological Society of America Graduate Student Research Grant in support of his research on thermophilic life in hot springs in Iceland. The funding paid for the sequencing of DNA samples to determine the taxonomic diversity of those ecosystems. Nathan explains that it is possible that hot springs similar to those in Iceland may have formed on Mars in the past, and that characterizing the organisms that occupy similar environments on Earth can shed light into the types of life possible on Mars.

Nathan is a second-year doctoral student working with associate professors Solange Duhamel and Christopher Hamilton. His research interests include astrobiology and planetary surfaces.