Research Website: https://sites.google.com/view/drlauraefackrell/home?authuser=1  

• Nutrient cycling and recovery, particularly nitrogen, for closed ecological systems in space or planetary surface environments (including Earth). 
• Regolith-based agriculture and the application of microbial consortia and implications for planetary protection 
• Planetary protection protocols and guidelines for human exploration 
• Low temperature geochemical modeling of ancient Mars and implications for past and present nutrient cycles and the implications for the potential habitability of Mars 
• Better understanding of short-range order phases in Mars surface materials and the implications for potential habitability and preservation of biomarkers indicative of past life 
• Human and robotic exploration of the Martian surface and mission design and planning efforts 
• Agricultural and related ISRU applications in preparation for crewed missions to Mars 
• The geochemistry, history and potential habitability of Ocean Worlds and other extraterrestrial bodies 
• Interactions of biologic and geologic processes in terrestrial and extraterrestrial critical zones