**Professor Roger Summons** describes how he and other scientists on the NASA Mars team search for and analyze possible bio-signatures on Mars. We learn also how his discoveries of extremely ancient bio-signatures on Earth are applied to the Mars investigation. Dr. Summons is distinguished for his technical analysis of sediments of the Precambrian age and modern microbes, and this expertise is crucial for the identification of organic remains in the Martian geology. Dr. Summons has received many awards for his work. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the Australian Academy of Science.
Roger Everett Summons is Professor of Geobiology in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a fellow of the Royal Society. Summons is particularly known for the application of organic geochemical techniques to sediments of Precambrian age and modern microbes in order to increase our understanding of the early evolution of life on Earth. Currently he is also engaged as a participating scientist with the search for organics in NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission. Outside academia Summons is an avid wine connoisseur and roots for the Boston Red Sox.