Education
PhD in Geomicrobiology and Chemical Oceanography, MIT/WHOI Joint Program
Subjects
Geomicrobiology, Chemical Oceanography, Astrobiology, Extremophile Microbiology, Metagenomics
Achievements
BA in Earth and Environmental Sciences (with distinction) from the University of Pennsylvania; American Society for Microbiology Future Leaders Mentorship Fellowship; Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology; honors from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the National GEM Consortium; peer-reviewed publications in Nature Communications and Applied and Environmental Microbiology; presented at major international meetings including AbSciCon and the American Society for Microbiology
About
Sabrina graduated with her PhD in Geomicrobiology and Chemical Oceanography from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in December 2025. Her research focused on microbial life in extreme environments, such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents and soda lakes, as analogs for life on other ocean worlds as part of NASA’s Exploring Ocean Worlds team, using metagenomics, RNA-SIP, metatranscriptomics, and single-cell NanoSIMS imaging. She is now a postdoctoral scholar at Pennsylvania State University studying microbiome resiliency in arid soils.
Discipline
Environment & Ecology
Academic Achievements
Sabrina's Ph.D. research has been supported and recognized through multiple competitive fellowships and awards, including the American Society of Microbiology Future Leaders Mentorship Fellowship, the Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology, and honors from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the The National GEM Consortium. She has authored several peer-reviewed publications on extremophile microbiology and hydrothermal ecosystems, including work published in Nature Communications and Applied and Environmental Microbiology, and has presented her research through oral presentations at major international meetings such as AbSciCon, the American Society of Microbiology, and Gordon Research Conferences. She previously graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Earth and Environmental Science with distinction and was on the Dean's list for 4 years. Elkassas is currently a postdoctoral scholar at Pennsylvania State University working on an NSF-funded project investigating the resilience of soil microbiomes under changing monsoon dynamics.
Teaching & Mentoring Experience
Previous mentor with LearnSTEM and Lumiere (3 students total), TA of Geology100 (1 semester), mentored undergraduate students each summer for 5 years during my Ph.D. (20 hours per week)
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