Hi! I’m Eloi (pronounced /əˈlɔɪ/, as in a metal alloy).

I’m interested in understanding life’s emergence, evolution, and distribution. My passion is to help unveil how life emerges on a planetary body, design strategies for its detection, and ultimately understand why life – as a phenomenon – exists.

I’m a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Astrobiochemistry at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). I’m originally from Barcelona (Spain), and have worked in Tokyo (Japan), Utrecht (Netherlands), and London (UK). I feel very lucky to have gathered a rich network of colleagues across the years, with whom I collaborate to this day.

I hold two B.S. degrees – in biology and in biochemistry – from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain). I completed a Masters of Research in molecular biophysics at University College London (UK), and obtained my PhD in chemistry – under the mentorship of Profs. Nick Lane and John Ward – also at UCL. I’m an awardee of the University of Texas System’s STARs Program (US) and of the Human Frontier Science Program (international), and a former research fellow of ‘la Caixa’ Foundation (Spain) and the Origins Center (Netherlands).

I teach a course on Astrobiolgy at UTRGV (CHEM 4306) – at a junior/senior undergraduate level in spring, and at graduate level in fall. The course covers a wide range of topics (from biology to planetary sciences and everything in between) and serves as a window for my students to start pondering about life in a universal context.

I enjoy working in an interdisciplinary way – with a joint appointment in UTRGV’s Departments of Biology and Chemistry – and with a diverse range of people. I’m proud of having supervised a total of 13 research students so far. I like being challenged and am always looking for opportunities to meet new people and discussing fresh approaches.

You can read my Curriculum Vitae here:

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I discuss my mentoring philosophy in this video by PhD Insiders:

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Outreach

I am very active in science dissemination activities, such as providing expert peer-review for papers, organising and attending scientific conferences, and being a member of several interdisciplinary institutions.

On top of this, I believe that engaging the general public is our responsibility as scientists given that, in many cases, our funding is derived from public sources. This is particularly important for all basic disciplines, but also for applied ones – such as space sciences – whose long-term benefits are often difficult to grasp for the general audience.

Scientific outreach to the broader public has always been my passion – particularly when addressing children and young adults. I’ve given many space exploration, astrobiology and origins talks at primary and secondary schools.

Selected Activities

2021: Collaboration with Esther Thole on two NEMO Kennislink articles: ‘De oeroceaan op zakformaat’ (‘A miniature primordial ocean’) and ‘De jonge aarde was een gigantische batterij’ (‘The young Earth was a gigantic battery’)

2020: Collaboration with Melanie Metz on a Quest magazine article about the origins of life and my research (‘Hoe is ooit het leven ter wereld gekomen?’) (‘How did life come to be?’)

2020: Collaboration with Utrecht Young Academy and JINC with disfavored students from vocational schools (VMBO) on designing a vlog about space exploration (‘Waar in het heelal kunnen we leven winden?’) (‘Where in the Universe can we find life?’)

2019: Collaboration with Sander van Iersel for a dissemination video on my project as part of the Origins Center (‘How did life get started?‘)

2015: Scientific divulgation stand for the Royal Society Summer Exhibition ‘UCL Origins and Life’

I often collaborate with science divulgation magazines and blogs commenting new advances in the fields of astrobiology, space exploration and origins (e.g. article in The Scientist).

I also provide expertise to private/public organizations and individuals on:

• Prebiotic chemistry
• Astrobiology and astrochemistry
• Space exploration, biosignatures, Ocean Worlds
• Primitive heredity, bioenergetics
• Geochemistry of hydrothermal systems
• Microfluidics, analytical chemistry, engineering
• Early-career prospects and networking