I am interested in unravelling the intricate relationship between microbial communities and their geological surroundings in extreme environments. Recently, I have been focusing on the geomicrobiology of evaporite deposits in hot deserts and high, dry plateau regions as well as other types of endolithic microbial communities in the same environments. My goal is to determine whether there is such a thing as a distinct "mineralogical footprint" laid down in the presence of microorganisms and whether this can persist in the rock record. Applications of this knowledge would be to provide a target marker for surveying extraterrestrial environments for sites of interest for more in-depth study as well as helping us understand the geological history and dynamic processes which have shaped the environments of Earth and Mars.