MAX BERNSTEIN - NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER

Astrophysics Branch - Mail Stop 245-6 - Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
Phone:  650-604-0194     Fax:  650-604-6779     Email:  mbernstein@mail.arc.nasa.gov

Title and Role

Co-Investigator - Responsible for laboratory work of Investigation 1 – Prebiotic Organics in Space featuring ice experiments relevant to interstellar grains, comets, and outer Solar System bodies.

Related Experience Summary

• Co-I on previous Ames astrobiology effort; Co-I on Origins, Astrobiology, and Exobiology grants
• PI on Origins and Planetary Geology and Geophysics
• Successfully carried out many laboratory astrobiolgy projects on the chemistry of interstellar and solar system environments
• Genuine interest in EPO, having written popular science articles for the press (Scientific American) and the web (strangehorizons.com and actionbioscience.org) and given many public lectures at schools, universities, and planetaria

Employment History

Working on the formation, distribution and fate of pre-biotic organic molecules in space for past 10 years at NASA Ames Research Center through a cooperative agreement with SETI.

Education

Ph.D. Chemistry Cornell University
M.S. Chemistry Cornell University
B.S. Chemistry McGill University

Professional Societies

Committee on Space Research (COSPAR)
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
American Chemical Society (ACS)
European Geophysical Society (EGS)
National Center for Science Education (NCSE)

Awards and Honors

Zeldovitch Medal, jointly awarded by COSPAR and the Russian Academy of Science, 2000
Ames Honor Award, 1999
Space Science Division Award, 1997 and 1999
American Chemical Society's Newsmaker Award, 2001

Selected Relevant Publications

Bernstein, Moore, Elsila, Sandford,  Allamandola, and Zare, (2003). Side Group Addition to the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Coronene by Proton Irradiation in Cosmic Ice Analogs ApJLett., 582, L25–L29.

Bernstein, M. P., Elsila, J. E., Dworkin, J. P., Sandford, S. A., Allamandola, L. J. & Zare, R. N. (2002). Side Group Addition to The Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Coronene

by Ultraviolet Photolysis in Cosmic Ice Analogs ApJ 576, 1115–1120.

Bernstein, M. P., Dworkin, J. P., Sandford, S. A., Cooper, G. W., & Allamandola, L. J. (2002). Racemic Amino Acids from the Ultraviolet Photolysis of Interstellar Ice Analogues.Nature 416, 401-403.

Bernstein, M. P., Dworkin, J. P., Sandford, S. A., & Allamandola, L. J. (2001). Ultraviolet Irradiation of Naphthalene in H2O Ice: Implications for Meteorites and BiogenesisMeteoritics and Planetary Science, 36, 351-358.

Ehrenfreund, P., Bernstein, M. P., Dworkin, J. P., Sandford, S. A., & Allamandola, L. J. (2001). The Photostability of Amino Acids in Space ApJ L 550, L95-L99.

Bernstein, M. P. Sandford, S. A., and Allamandola. L. J. (2000) H, C, N, and O Isotopic Substitution Studies of the 2165 cm-1 (4.62 µm) "XCN" Feature Produced by UV Photolysis of Mixed Molecular Ices. ApJ, 542: 894-897

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