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Dr Andrew Rushby

Positions held:
  • Lecturer, School of Natural Sciences
Email
  • Overview

    Overview

    Administrative responsibilities

    • Programme Director for MSc. Astrobiology

    Visiting posts

    • Honorary Research Associate, University College London, 11-2021

    Professional memberships

    • Committee Member of the Astrobiology Society of Britain (ASB)

    ORCID

    0000-0001-6233-4311
  • Research

    Research

    Research interests

    • Biogeochemical controls on planetary habitability
    • Terrestrial exoplanet characterisation, atmospheric dynamics, land/ocean/atmospheric feedbacks
    • Biosignatures

    Research overview

    Andrew's research interests are primarily focused within the broad discipline of planetary habitability and the distribution of habitable environments in the Galaxy. In particular, processes that maintain the long-term climate stability of terrestrial planets, biogeochemical and climate/physical feedback mechanisms within the planet system, atmospheric dynamics and evolution, as well as biosignature detection. 

    He completed a Ph.D in Biogeochemistry at the University of East Anglia's Centre for Oceanic and Atmospheric Science (COAS) in 2015, where his thesis research was focused on the carbonate-silicate cycle and the long-term habitability of Earth-like planets.

    Andrew secured a NASA Postdoctoral Management Fellowship at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) in Mountain View, California in 2016. His responsibilities at NASA ARC were split between the management of NASA's novel astrobiology Research Coordination Network (RCN) the Nexus for Exoplanet Systems Science (NExSS) and continuing his research in planetary habitability. Along with the rest of the NExSS management team, he was involved in shaping the direction of astrobiology policy and funding at NASA and the adoption of the novel RCN model to the astrobiology program.

    Andrew moved on to the University of California Irvine (UCI) in 2018 and joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Astronomy. At UCI he worked closely with Professor Aomawa Shields to grow her research group and establish UCI as a center for exoplanet climate research. The research focus at SCECIE was land and ice-albedo feedbacks and the atmospheric characterisation of Earth-like planets around M-dwarf stars.

    Research Centres and Institutes

  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Supervision

    Supervisions within Birkbeck:
    2

    I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students who are interested in undertaking research in planetary habitability, biogeochemical processes and climate feedback mechanisms, biosignatures, and the atmospheric characterisation of terrestrial exoplanets.

    Current doctoral researchers

    • HANNAH WOODWARD
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor, onwards
      Title of thesis:
      Atmospheric modelling of tidally-locked exoplanets

    Teaching

    From 2022:

    • Introduction to Astrobiology (Level 5)

    From 2023:

    • Frontiers in Astrobiology (Level 6)
    • Foundations of Astrobiology (Level 7)

    Teaching modules

    • Introduction to Astrobiology (EASC064H5)
    • Methods in Natural Sciences I (SC11001H4)
    • Foundations of Astrobiology (SCES076S7)
    • Research Topics in Astrobiology and Planetary Science (SCES077H7)
    • Astrobiology Analogue Rover Mission (SCES079H7)
  • Publications

    Publications

    External Repositories

  • Business and community

    Business and community

    Outreach

    Exocast: the exoplanet podcast (exocast.org)