August 11, 2026

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Speaker: Jessica Weber, Jet Propulsion Lab, CalTech

Host: Medha Prakash, Sean Gulick

Title: Organic Reactivity on the Surface of Ceres

Abstract: Ceres has been of great interest to planetary science and astrobiology since the Dawn mission and its detection of organics on the surface. Understanding the synthesis and reactivity of organic material under Ceres-like conditions is relevant to determining what kinds of abiotic chemistry the body can host and its potential habitability. Therefore, we have explored the alteration of metabolically relevant organic molecules (amino acids and alpha keto acids) under near vacuum irradiation conditions. These reactions were analyzed in situ via residual gas analyzer (RGA) during the experiment and via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) upon completion of the experiment. We have observed that the irradiation increased reactivity and caused decarboxylation for both classes of molecules. Under select conditions, via LC-MS analysis, we were able to form glycine oligomers (up to a 6-mer) within this experiment. These abiotic chemical syntheses have implications for evaluation of putative biosignatures, as the selected molecules can be generated without life present. These reactions are also relevant for future Ceres missions and other water and organic rich bodies within the asteroid belt.

Biography: Dr. Jessica Weber is a Research Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where her expertise lies in the field of organic chemistry and astrobiology. Jessica is the co-PI of the Origins and Habitability Lab at JPL. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT in 2019 with Dr. Tim Jamison and a B.S. in Chemistry from University of Chicago in 2014. Her graduate school research focused on organometallic catalysis and pharmaceutical synthesis. She experimentally explores mineral-organic interactions and reactivity related to prebiotic chemistry on ocean and terrestrial worlds. Her research focuses on prebiotic synthesis and reaction of organic materials, chemical weathering of mineral analogs, and the origins of metabolic pathway. Jessica is a Science Planner for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and an is the Europa-UVS Investigation Scientist for Europa Clipper.