Star Party Winslow Homolovi Observatory September 27, 2025

Celebrate the Moon with the Pedal the Petrified Forest cyclists from the annual Pedal the Petrified Northland Pioneer College scholarship fundraiser. Dr. Haley Sapers is an assistant professor of planetary geobiology at Northern Arizona University jointly appointed in the departments of Astronomy & Planetary Science and Biological Sciences. Her research takes her to the high Canadian Arctic investigating microbial communities and permafrost methane emissions, to developing instruments to measure methane and search for life beyond Earth. Dr. Sapers has worked on NASA Mars missions including the Curiosity rover and the SHERLOC science team (one of the instruments on the Perseverance Rover). She investigates the limits of life in planetary analog environments including meteorite impact craters, methane seeps, and polar hyper saline springs.