University of Granada, started 2015
Hi! I am a Greek PhD student at CSIC-UGR and I joined J.M. García-Ruiz group and Prometheus team in October of 2015. I hold a BSc in Geology and a MSc focused in Geochemistry-Mineralogy, from the University of Athens. During my Master thesis I studied S-Fe-As mineralogy, speciation and geochemistry in marine sediment cores from the shallow-sea hydrothermal vents of Milos volcanic island (HVA, Greece) with the use of various microscopic and Synchrotron-based spectroscopic techniques. Within Prometheus I study the geochemical plausibility of silica self-assembled membranes and their relation to life-detection studies and prebiotic chemistry. My work includes fieldwork and sampling in locations around the world relevant for the precipitation of silica self-assembled structures, such as, the Ney Spring of California, the soda lakes of Kenya and the hydrothermal brines of Dallol in Ethiopia, as well as, experimental work in the lab. I investigate the geochemical conditions for the, silica-induced, mineral self-organization in modern Earth to understand the plausibility of these geochemical scenarios in early Earth, before the appearance of life.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Electra_Kotopoulou/publications