Ana Zélia Miller

I received a Ph.D. in Conservation Sciences from the NOVA University of Lisbon in 2010 and I am currently working in collaboration with the Subterranean Ecology Group of CE3C. I am a tenured researcher of the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville (IRNAS) at the CSIC, Spain, and head of the Geomicrobiology and Biogeochemistry (BIOGEOCOM) research group. My research focuses on geomicrobiology of complex ecosystems, such as subterranean environments, stone cultural heritage, soils and sediments, with emphasis on microbe-mineral interactions, biosignatures and biomineralization.  I have implemented novel approaches to blending classical microbiology, molecular biology, metagenomics, mineralogy and geochemistry in a holistic effort to understand microbial life and minerogenesis in lava tubes from Canary (Spain), Easter (Chile) and Galapagos (Ecuador) Islands, Mount Etna (Italy) and Selvagens (Portugal), leading to major breakthroughs on geomicrobiological interactions and biosignatures preserved in the rock record. Owing to my expertise in geomicrobiology, I designed a microbiological sampling procedure valid for future planetary caves exploration and performed real-time DNA sequencing inside lava tubes within the framework of the PANGAEA-X astronaut training program of the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2020, I succeeded in obtaining a competitive project from the Portuguese Government (FCT), to explore for the first time the volcanic caves from the remote Selvagens Islands (NE Atlantic), in collaboration with ESA and National Geographic Portugal. I coordinated a once-in-a-lifetime expedition composed of 17 researchers to these pristine islands, where we discovered a new cave, further identified as a Mars analogue by the Portuguese Space Agency. My scientific track-record comprises 97 articles in SCI journals, 16 book-chapters and over 120 contributions to international and national conferences, with 12 as invited speaker. In addition, I have attracted highly competitive research funds through 12 research projects acting as Principal Investigator (PI), and 6 highly competitive individual fellowships. I am Associate Editor of the International Journal of Speleology and Frontiers in Earth Science.