Jeff Marlow is a graduate student in Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology where hestudies exotic microbial metabolisms in an attempt to understand the limits of life on Earth and beyond.  He has followed extreme life forms to acidic rivers, ice caves, deserts, the high Andes, and the deep ocean, and has worked on NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers and Phoenix Mars Lander.

As a Marshall Scholar at Imperial College London, Jeff worked on a life detection instrument for an upcoming Mars mission and perfected his croquet swing. At Caltech, he works with Professor Victoria Orphan on the microbial communities of oceanic methane vents, which play a critical role in greenhouse gas cycling. Jeff has also worked for Google's marketing team, and reported on science, the environment, and international development for The New York Times.