Dr Keyron Hickman-Lewis
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Overview
Overview
Biography
2019–2020 Research Assistant, CNRS Orléans (France) and Università di Bologna (Italy)
2021–2024 Aurora Research Fellow, Natural History Museum, London
2024–2024 Research Fellow, Imperial College London
2024–present Lecturer in Planetary Exploration, Birkbeck, University of London
Highlights
Multi-technique nanogeoscience study of Archaean microbial mats, showing that sandstones can exceptionally preserve traces of microbial life over billions of years (with implications for Mars Sample Return): Hickman-Lewis et al. (2025, Nature Communications)
Detection of a potential biosignature—a possible trace of life—on Mars by the Perseverance rover: Hurowitz et al. (2025, Nature)
Correlative 2D and 3D microscopy of Earth's earliest traces of life: Hickman-Lewis et al. (2023, Geology)
Report on the samples collected by the NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission, on which I have been a Returned Sample Science Participating Scientist since 2020: Herd et al. (2025, PNAS)
Identification and characterisation of the oldest preserved traces of microbial life in Africa: Hickman-Lewis et al. (2018, Precambrian Research)
Development of the palaeo-metallome as a trace element biosignature with applications to the search for life on the early Earth and Mars: Hickman-Lewis et al. (2020, Scientific Reports)
BBC News story reporting our work on Earth's earliest traces of life: Life on Mars? Australian rocks may hold clues for Nasa rover
Web profiles
Visiting posts
- Associate Researcher, Università di Bologna, Italy,
Professional memberships
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2015–present Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS)
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2021–present Council Member, European Astrobiology Network Association
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Research
Research
Research interests
- Co-evolution of Earth and Life in the Precambrian: can we constrain the emergence of major microbial metabolisms throughout the Precambrian and their relationship with changing sedimentary environments and ocean chemistry?
- Modern analogues of ancient ecosystems: How can we use extreme planetary field analogues most effectively to explain geological and ecological aspects of environments on the early Earth and Mars?
- Technique development: How can we harness non-traditional and emerging instrumentation and data treatment (e.g. chemometrics) to shed new light on the ancient fossil record?
- Planetary exploration: How can we effectively utilise space mission observations, including rover and orbiter datasets, to reconstruct past environments and habitability throughout the Solar System?
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Supervision and teaching
Supervision and teaching
Supervision
I welcome enquiries from prospective students and postdoctoral researchers who are interested in undertaking research in any of my areas of interest.
Current doctoral researchers
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JAMES SALMON
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HOLLY RAYNOR
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AMY QUINTON
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EMILY DENT
Teaching
Teaching modules
- Remote Sensing and Planetary Surfaces
- Planetary Exploration Analogue Mission
- Geology of the Solar System
- Methods in Natural Sciences II
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Publications
Publications
Article
- Murphy, A.E. and Uckert, K. and Hand, K. P. and Bhartia, R. and Bykov, S.V. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Jakubek, R.S. and Lee, C. and McCubbin, F.M. and Minitti, M.E. and Pascuzzo, A. and Siljeström, S. and Sharma, S. and Steele, A. and Williford, K.H. and Abbey, W. and Asher, S.A. and Barnes, R. and Barr, P.A. and Bell, J.F. and Beyssac, O. and Bosak, T. and Bramble, M.S. and Brown, A. and Broz, A.P. and Buckner, D. and Cardarelli, E.L. and Carsten, J.L. and Corpolongo, A. and Czaja, A. and Edgington, S.G.C. and Ehlmann, B.L. and Farley, K.A. and Fornaro, T. and Fries, M. and González-Burgos, R. and Gupta, S. and Haney, N.C. and Hug, W. and Huggett, J. and Hurowitz, J.A. and Imbeah, S. and Clark, J. and Jones, A.J. and Kah, L.C. and Kennedy, M.R. and Lee, S.W. and Maki, J. and Nixon, B. and Núñez, J.I. and Osterhout, J.T. and Phelan, N.D. and Phua, Y.Y. and Ravine, M.A. and Hollis, J.R. and Scheller, E. and Schulte, M.D. and Sephton, M.A. and Simon, J.I. and Srivastava, A. and Stack, K.M. and Van Beek, J. and Weiss, B.P. and Wiens, R. and Williams, A. J. and Wogsland, B.V. and Yingst, R.A. (2026) Spatially distributed complex organic matter detected in an ancient river valley in Jezero crater, Mars. Science Advances 12 (26), ISSN 2375-2548.
- Olewinski, S. and Rahman, I.A. and Fedrigo, A. and Hayes, P.A. and Smith, C.L. and Hickman‐Lewis, Keyron (2026) Correlative X‐Ray and Neutron Tomography of microbial biosignatures: perspectives for Mars Sample Return. Earth and Space Sciencs 13 (7), ISSN 2333-5084.
- Barnes, R. and Gupta, S. and Treiman, A. and Sholes, S. and Paar, G. and Tate, C. and Bechtold, A. and Stack‐Morgan, K. and Bell, J.F. and Maki, J. and Horgan, B. and Nuñez, J. and Traxler, C. and Ortner, T. and Shoemaker Thackston, E.S. and Hamran, S.‐E. and Alwmark, S. and Rice, M. and Sun, V. and Beyssac, O. and Annex, A. and Brown, A. and Kah, L. and Flannery, D. and Simon, J.I. and Walter, S. and Hickman‐Lewis, Keyron and Farley, Ke. (2026) Intrusion‐induced forced folding model for the origin of Séítah Formation Domes on the Jezero Crater Floor, Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 131 (3), ISSN 2169-9097.
- Bontognali, T.R.R. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron (2026) Stromatolites: the shape we give to our vision of Martian life?. Elements 22 (4), pp. 225-226. ISSN 1811-5209.
- Cardoso Dorneles, V.A. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Haileselasie, Ts.H. and Hagos, M. and Šket, P. and Cavalazzi, B. (2026) Stromatolites from Lake Ashenge, Ethiopia: controls on biosignature preservation in extreme alkaline environments. Astrobiology 26 (1), pp. 10-29. ISSN 1531-1074.
- Herd, C.D.K. and Bosak, T. and Hausrath, E.M. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Mayhew, L.E. and Shuster, D.L. and Siljeström, S. and Simon, J.I. and Weiss, B.P. and Wadhwa, M. and Zorzano, M.-P. and Maki, J.N. and Farley, K.A. and Stack, K.M. (2025) Sampling Mars: geologic context and preliminary characterization of samples collected by the NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 122 (2), ISSN 0027-8424.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Cuadros, J. and Yi, K. and Hong, T.E. and Byeon, M. and Jang, J.H. and Choi, M.Y. and Seo, Y.K. and Najorka, J. and Montgomery, W. and Matlak, K. and Wolanin, B. and Smith, C.L. and Cavalazzi, B. (2025) Aluminous phyllosilicates promote exceptional nanoscale preservation of biogeochemical heterogeneities in Archaean siliciclastic microbial mats. Nature Communications 16 (2726), ISSN 2041-1723.
- Hurowitz, J.A. and Tice, M.M. and Allwood, A.C. and Cable, M.L. and Hand, K.P. and Murphy, A.E. and Uckert, K. and Bell, J.F. and Bosak, T. and Broz, A.P. and Clavé, E. and Cousin, A. and Davidoff, S. and Dehouck, E. and Farley, K.A. and Gupta, S. and Hamran, S.-E. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Johnson, J.R. and Jones, A.J. and Jones, M.W.M. and Jørgensen, P.S. and Kah, L.C. and Kalucha, H. and Kizovski, T.V. and Klevang, D.A. and Liu, Y. and McCubbin, F.M. and Moreland, E.L. and Paar, G. and Paige, D.A. and Pascuzzo, A.C. and Rice, M.S. and Schmidt, M.E. and Siebach, K.L. and Siljeström, S. and Simon, J. I. and Stack, K.M. and Steele, A. and Tosca, N. J. and Treiman, A.H. and VanBommel, S. J. and Wade, L.A. and Weiss, B.P. and Wiens, R.C. and Williford, K.H. and Barnes, R. and Barr, P.A. and Bechtold, A. and Beck, P. and Benzerara, K. and Bernard, S. and Beyssac, O. and Bhartia, R. and Brown, A. J. and Caravaca, G. and Cardarelli, E. L. and Cloutis, E. A. and Fairén, A. G. and Flannery, D.T. and Fornaro, T. and Fouchet, T. and Garczynski, B. and Goméz, F. and Hausrath, E.M. and Heirwegh, C.M. and Herd, C.D.K. and Huggett, J.E. and Jørgensen, J.L. and Lee, S.W. and Li, A.Y. and Maki, J.N. and Mandon, L. and Mangold, N. and Manrique, J.A. and Martínez-Frías, J. and Núñez, J.I. and O’Neil, L.P. and Orenstein, B.J. and Phelan, N. and Quantin-Nataf, C. and Russell, P. and Schulte, M.D. and Scheller, E. and Sharma, S. and Shuster, D.L. and Srivastava, A. and Wogsland, B.V. and Wolf, Z.U. (2025) Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars. Nature 645 (8080), pp. 332-340. ISSN 0028-0836.
- Zorzano, M.-P. and Czaja, A.D. and Bosak, T. and Bouvier, A. and Carrier, B.L. and French, K.L. and Glavin, D.P. and Harrington, A.D. and Hausrath, E. and Herd, C.D.K. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Mayhew, L.E. and McCubbin, F.M. and Schwenzer, S.P. and Sefton-Nash, E. and Siljeström, S. and Simon, J.I. and Teece, B.L. and Thiessen, F. and Weiss, B.P. and Kminek, G. and Hays, L.E. (2025) Sample science traceability matrix for Perseverance ’s Mars Sample Return Collection. Astrobiology 25 (10), pp. 725-741. ISSN 1531-1074.
- Razzell Hollis, J. and Moore, K. and Fries, M. and Broderick, C. and Buret, Y. and Bhartia, R. and Fornaro, T. and Graff, T. and Hand, K.P. and Hickman‐Lewis, Keyron and Jakubek, R. and Lee, C. and McCubbin, F.M. and Morris, R.V. and Murphy, A. and Sharma, S. and Smith, C. and Steele, A. and Uckert, K. (2025) Mineralogical and chemical mapping of Martian Meteorite SaU 008 using Deep UV Raman and Fluorescence Spectroscopy on Earth and Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 130 (8), ISSN 2169-9097.
- Lima-Zaloumis, J. and Cady, S.L. and Blank, J.G. and Shkolyar, S. and Akudoro, V. and Awramik, S.M. and Cavalazzi, B. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Homann, M. and Noffke, N. and Perl, S.M. and Potter-McIntyre, S.L. and Westall, F. (2025) Laminae as potential biosignatures. Astrobiology 25 (8), pp. 501-524. ISSN 1531-1074.
- Shkolyar, S. and Bebout, L. and Blank, J.G. and Cady, S.L. and Cavalazzi, B. and Corbin, E. and Davila, A.F. and Des Marais, D. and Fisk, M. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Lima-Zaloumis, J. and McLoughlin, N. and Murphy, A.E. and Noffke, N. and Perl, S.M. and Pohorille, A. and Potter-McIntyre, S.L. and Rainwater, J.H. and Westall, F. (2025) Structural biosignatures—a category of potential biosignatures in the Life Detection Knowledge Base. Astrobiology 25 (7), pp. 482-497. ISSN 1531-1074.
- Hirsch, S. and Tan, J.S. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Sephton, M.A. (2025) Preservation of extracellular sheaths produced by iron-oxidizing bacteria: an analog for potential morphological biosignatures on Mars. Astrobiology 25 (3), pp. 151-160. ISSN 1531-1074.
- Dorneles, V.A.C. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Barbieri, R. and Caminiti, A.M. and Cavalazzi, B. (2024) Microbe-mineral interactions in the microstromatolitic crusts of the lacustrine chimneys and volcanic bedrock of Lake Abhe, Republic of Djibouti. Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 63 (3), pp. 229-244. ISSN 0375-7633.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Cavalazzi, B. and Montgomery, W. (2024) Correlative microspectroscopy of biogenic fabrics in Proterozoic silicified stromatolites. Geochemical Perspectives Letters 30, pp. 34-39. ISSN 2410-339X.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Moore, K.R. and Razzell Hollis, J.J. and Tuite, M.L. and Beegle, L.W. and Bhartia, R. and Grotzinger, J.P. and Brown, A.J. and Shkolyar, S. and Cavalazzi, B. and Smith, C.L. (2022) In situ identification of Palaeoarchaean biosignatures using co-located Perseverance rover analyses: perspectives for in situ Mars science and sample return. Astrobiology 22 (9), pp. 1143-1163. ISSN 1531-1074.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Cavalazzi, B. and Giannoukos, K. and D'Amico, L. and Vrbaski, S. and Saccomano, G. and Dreossi, D. and Tromba, G. and Foucher, F. and Brownscombe, W. and Smith, C.L. and Westall, F. (2022) Advanced two- and three-dimensional insights into Earth’s oldest stromatolites (ca. 3.5 Ga): prospects for the search for life on Mars. Geology ISSN 0091-7613.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Westall, F. (2021) A southern African perspective on the co-evolution of early life and environments. South African Journal of Geology 124 (1), pp. 225-252. ISSN 1012-0750.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Foucher, F. and Pelletier, S. and Messori, F. and Westall, F. (2020) Geological appraisals of core samples using the ExoMars 2020 rover instrumentation. Planetary and Space Science 180 (104743), ISSN 0032-0633.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Cavalazzi, B. and Sorieul, S. and Gautret, P. and Foucher, F. and Whitehouse, M.J. and Jeon, H. and Cockell, C.S. and Georgelin, T. and Westall, F. (2020) Metallomics in deep time and the influence of ocean chemistry on the metabolic landscapes of Earth’s earliest ecosystems. Scientific Reports 10, pp. 4965. ISSN 2045-2322.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Gourcerol, B. and Westall, F. and Manzini, D. and Cavalazzi, B. (2020) Reconstructing Palaeoarchaean microbial biomes flourishing in the presence of emergent landmasses using trace and rare earth element systematics. Precambrian Research 342, pp. 105689. ISSN 0301-9268.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Westall, F. and Cavalazzi, B. (2020) Diverse communities of Bacteria and Archaea flourished in Palaeoarchaean (3.5-3.3 Ga) microbial mats. Palaeontology 63 (6), pp. 1007-1033. ISSN 0031-0239.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Gautret, P. and Arbaret, L. and Sorieul, S. and De Wit, R. and Foucher, F. and Cavalazzi, B. and Westall, F. (2019) Mechanistic morphogenesis of organo-sedimentary structures growing under geochemically stressed conditions: keystone to the interpretation of some Archaean stromatolites?. Geosciences 9 (8), pp. 359. ISSN 2076-3263.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Cavalazzi, B. and Foucher, F. and Westall, F. (2018) Most ancient evidence for life in the Barberton greenstone belt: microbial mats and biofabrics of the ~3.47 Ga Middle Marker horizon. Precambrian Research 312, pp. 45-67. ISSN 0301-9268.
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Garwood, R.J. and Brasier, M.D. and Goral, T. and Jiang, H. and McLoughlin, N. and Wacey, D. (2016) Carbonaceous microstructures from sedimentary laminated chert within the 3.46 Ga Apex Basalt, Chinaman Creek locality, Pilbara, Western Australia. Precambrian Research 278, pp. 161-178. ISSN 0301-9268.
- Dass, A.V. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Brack, A. and Kee, T.P. and Westall, F. (2016) Stochastic prebiotic chemistry within realistic geological systems. ChemistrySelect 1 (15), pp. 4906-4926. ISSN 2365-6549.
- Wacey, D. and Battison, L. and Garwood, R.J. and Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Brasier, M.D. (2016) Advanced analytical techniques for studying the morphology and chemistry of Proterozoic microfossils. Journal of the Geological Society 448, pp. 81-104. ISSN 0016-7649.
Book section
- Hickman-Lewis, Keyron and Garwood, R.J. and Withers, P.J. and Wacey, D. (2017) X-ray microtomography as a tool for investigating the petrological context of Precambrian cellular remains. In: Brasier, A.T. and McIlroy, D. and McLoughlin, N. (eds.) Earth System Evolution and Early Life: A Celebration of the Work of Martin Brasier. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. Geological Society of London. ISSN 0016-7649. ISBN 9781786202796.