Associate Professor of Biogeochemistry and Astrobiology in Dublin City University and Principal Investigator of ProtoSigns Lab.

Seán is originally from Dublin, Ireland. He obtained his BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science from DCU in 2009. His PhD in Biogeochemistry under the supervision of Dr Brian Kelleher also in DCU was awarded in 2016. That same year he accepted a position as Postdoctoral Research Associate at University College London under the guidance of Prof Nick Lane, investigating the first cell membranes at the origin of life. He is fascinated by the transition from geochemistry to biochemistry eventually leading to the origin and evolution of life, and how we can trace these events through a combination of experimentation and advanced analytical techniques. In 2021 he secured a ‘la Caixa’ Foundation Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship to work with Prof. Zita Martins at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal. This ‘Fake Fossils’ project was focused on investigating the preservation potential of fatty acid membranes in early Earth silica matrices. In 2023 he was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant and a Research Ireland Pathways Award which led to a move back to DCU where he established his research group – ProtoSigns Lab.

His current research is focused on pushing the boundaries of membrane formation at the origin of life, investigating how the resulting structures may be preserved in the rock record, and the potential effects this may have on our interpretation of biosignatures from the early Earth and elsewhere in our Solar System.