Dr. Rafael Navarro-González is a distinguished research professor at the Laboratory of Plasma Chemistry and Planetary Studies of the Institute of Nuclear Science of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He obtained his B. Sc. in biology in 1983 at this University, and his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1989 from the University of Maryland at College Park working under the supervision of Dr. Cyril Ponnamperuma. His current research interest focuses on the origin and evolution of life on Earth and other planetary environments. Dr. Navarro-González is also active in future space missions to Mars and
Europa, and in terraforming Mars. His studies on Mars brought him recently to Marslike environments such as the Atacama Desert in Chile, one of the driest places on Earth, and Pico de Orizaba, Mexico, a volcano with the highest treeline in the world. Dr. Navarro-González has been a visiting professor at the University of Maryland, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Universties of Paris 7 and 12.