RESEARCH AND IMPACT
Extreme environments as a field laboratory.
Why extreme environments matter, and where the research is headed.
Focus areas
Extreme environments matter because they compress and reveal questions that stay hidden under ordinary conditions.
Women's health in extreme environments
How the body, and specifically the female body, adapts and responds under extreme physiological load.
Human resilience, sleep, and circadian systems
What extreme conditions reveal about physiology, decision-making, and recovery.
Extreme polar conditions as analogs for future space research
What Earth's most hostile environments can teach us about long-duration missions beyond Earth.
From expedition to research
How a single field expedition becomes a pathway to grants, strategic reports, thought leadership, and public communication.
Projects and publications
Research projects and publications will be listed here as they are confirmed.
Arctic Resilience expedition
activeA polar expedition to the Arctic Circle in April 2026, with Dr. Reut leading the science program. Field data was gathered on how women's reproductive and circadian systems adapt to the extreme light cycles of the polar regions. The work was presented at the 46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly with co-investigator Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, University of Arizona. Mission in progress, results pending publication.
D-MARS, Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station
completedCo-founder, CTO and Chief Scientist of D-MARS, a non-profit Mars analog center built in Israel's Ramon crater. Led the science department and thirty local and international collaborators from 2017 to 2020, with a focus on field research and space technology. The D-MARS03 mission produced the 2021 study of forward and backward microbial contamination between a crew and its habitat. Funded by the Israel Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
Young Israeli Astronauts Academy
completedA one and a half year training program at the Davidson Institute for Science Education, Weizmann Institute of Science, for a selected group of high school students in space sciences, astronautics, field expedition skills and scientific exploration. Directed from 2016 to 2021 as manager and science educator. Funded by the Israel Space Agency.
- TalkWomen's reproductive and circadian adaptation to extreme polar photoperiods: implications for deep-space habitability
46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly · 2026
How women's reproductive and circadian systems adapt to the extreme light cycles of the polar regions, and what that means for keeping people healthy on long deep-space missions. Presented with co-investigator Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, University of Arizona.
- MediaArctic Resilience, expedition film
YouTube · 2025
A short film following the science program on the Arctic Edge expedition to the Arctic Circle, March 2025.
- TalkEvaluating and monitoring cross contamination in planetary crewed space missions
Astrobiology Science Conference, AbSciCon · 2022
A framework for tracking how biological material moves within a crewed mission, built on analog mission data. Presented at AbSciCon 2022.
- TalkPanel: Sustainable life in space
17th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference · 2022
Moderated the conference panel on sustainable human life in space. Full recording in the Internet Archive.
- TalkWhat are we looking for on Mars?
Israel Space Agency, World Space Week · 2021
A free public lecture for World Space Week on what we are searching for on Mars, whether life could be there, and how anyone can be an analog astronaut for a few days. Hosted by the Israel Space Agency in Jerusalem.
- PublicationTemporal and spatial analysis of forward and backward microbial contamination in a Mars analog mission
Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences · 2021
How microbes move between a crew and its habitat during an isolated analog mission, and what that means for keeping other worlds free of Earth life and Earth science free of contamination. Field data from the D-MARS03 mission in the Negev desert.
- TalkThe 2019 analog Mars mission season at the Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station
70th International Astronautical Congress · 2019
Results and lessons from the 2019 analog mission season at D-MARS, presented at the International Astronautical Congress.
- TalkMars analogs at the Ramon crater region: D-MARS
50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference · 2019
An overview of the Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station and its first mission seasons: the site, the habitat, crew operations and the research program.
- TalkWorking and living in space
14th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference · 2019
Invited talk on what it takes for people to work and live off Earth, at Israel's main space conference, Tel Aviv.
- TalkVisioning our future in space
13th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference · 2018
Invited talk on long-term visions for a human future in space, at Israel's main space conference, Tel Aviv.
- PublicationT-RFLP fingerprinting analysis of bacterial communities in debris cones, Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica
Permafrost and Periglacial Processes · 2012
A genetic fingerprint of the bacterial communities inside Antarctic debris cones, ice cored mounds that hold pockets of life in the frozen ground.
- PublicationNifH gene diversity and expression in a microbial mat community on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica
Antarctic Science · 2010
Which nitrogen fixing bacteria live in a meltwater microbial mat on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, and which of their genes stay switched on in the cold.
Research collaboration
For universities, research centers, and funders exploring a field platform for an active research question.