International Journal of Space science and Technology

María-Paz Zorzano

Designation: Professor

Department: Department of Planetology and Habitability

Institution: Luleå University of Technology, Sweden

Country: Spain

Professor María-Paz Zorzano is a Doctor of Physical Sciences (1999). Her scientific research focuses on planetary exploration and she is deeply involved on instrument development, astrobiology and the interaction of the atmosphere and hydrosphere with life. Since 2002 she is a staff researcher at the Astrobiology Center, of the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA), Spain. She is a Professor in Atmospheric Science at the Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. Professor M.-P. Zorzano participates in the design and operation of instrumentation for space exploration of Earth, Mars and the Moon, working with space agencies such as NASA, ESA, IKI / Roscosmos, in missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory and ExoMars. She is a member of the COSPAR (Committee On SPAce Research) Planetary Protection Panel.María-Paz is co-Principal Investigator of the ExoMars HABIT instrument which will evaluate the present day habitability of the landing site of the ExoMars mission, Oxia Planum.Her background comes from theoretical physics (she was trained at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain) and particle accelerators, she has worked at DESY (Germany) and CERN (Switzerland). She is a frequent lecturer in both academic and public settings and has published more than 100 refereed articles in academic journals. She is also involved in outreach and education, supervising Master and Doctoral Thesis and training interns.