Jon Lima-Zaloumis
Planetary Geochemist | JETS
Jon Lima-Zaloumis
Planetary Geochemist
JETS
Phone
Phone
Biography
Dr. Jon Lima-Zaloumis is a Planetary Geochemist working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center as part of the Amentum JETS II contract. He is broadly interested in understanding the origin, distribution, and alteration of organic domains in astromaterials, as well as methods to detect structural, molecular, and isotopic signs of extant and fossil microbial life. Jon’s research involves the use of multiple coordinated analytical methods, and he is primarily affiliated with the NanoSIMS 50L laboratory where he works to characterize the elemental and isotopic composition of astromaterials at micro- to nanometer scales.
Education
Ph.D.
Geological Sciences
Arizona State University
2021
B.S.
Earth and Space Exploration
Arizona State University
2014
Education
Ph.D., Geological Sciences, 2021
Arizona State University
B.S., Earth and Space Exploration, 2014
Arizona State University
Laboratories
Select Publications
• Lima-Zaloumis, J., Cady, S.L., Blank, J.G., Shkolyar, S., Akudoro, V., Awramik, S.M., Cavalazzi, B., Hickman-Lewis, K., Homann, M., Noffke, N. and Perl, S.M., (2025). Laminae as Potential Biosignatures. Astrobiology. 25(7).
• Shkolyar, S., Bebout, L., Blank, J.G., Cady, S.L., Cavalazzi, B., Corbin, E., Davila, A.F., Des Marais, D., Fisk, M., Hickman-Lewis, K. and Lima-Zaloumis, J., (2025). Structural Biosignatures—A Category of Potential Biosignatures in the Life Detection Knowledge Base. Astrobiology, 25(7).
• Perl, S.M., Murphy, A.E., Raj, C.G., Santos, S.C., Glamoclija, M., Des Marais, D., Hoehler, T., Shkolyar, S., Cady, S.L., Blank, J., Davila, A., and Lima-Zaloumis, J. 2025. Crystal Habits as Potential Biosignatures. Astrobiology, 25(7).
• Scott, B., Lima-Zaloumis, J. and Garcia-Pichel, F., (2025). Aeolian dust deposition as a driver of cyanobacterial community structure in biological soil crusts. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 202, p.109654.
• Matthews, A., Lima-Zaloumis, J., Debes I. R. V., Boyer, G., & Trembath-Reichert, E. (2023). Heterotrophic Growth Dominates in the Most Extremotolerant Extremophile Cultures. Astrobiology, 23(4), 446-459.
• Hoehler, T.M., Davila, A., Parenteau, N., Quinn, R., Des Marais, D., Shkolyar, S., Bebout, L., Benner, S., Blank, J.G., Brinckerhoff, W., Cable, M., Cady, S., Eigenbrode, J., Everroad, R., Getty, S., Glavin, D., Gliniewicz, S., Graham, H., Hays, L., Jahnke, L., Lafuente, B., Lau, G., Lehmer, O., Lima-Zaloumis, J., Lynch, K., Murphy, A., Neveu, M., Perl, S.M., Rainwater, J.H., Ricco, A., Rios, A., Som, S., Wilhelm, M. and Pohorille, A., 2025. Introduction to the Life Detection Knowledge Base Project. Astrobiology, 25(7).
• Lima-Zaloumis, J., Farmer, J. D., Trembath-Reichert, E. (2024) “Rapid Diagenesis and Microbial Biosignature Degradation in Spring Carbonates from Crystal Geyser, Utah” Journal of Sedimentary Research 2024; doi: https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2023.028
• Lima-Zaloumis, J., Neubeck, A., Ivarsson, M., Bose, M., Greenberger, R., Templeton, A.S., Czaja, A.D., Kelemen, P.B. and Edvinsson, T., 2022. Microbial biosignature preservation in carbonated serpentine from the Samail Ophiolite, Oman. Communications Earth & Environment, 3(1), p.231.
• Neubeck, A., Ivarsson, M., Broman, C., Lima-Zaloumis, J., Bach, W., & Whitehouse, M. (2021). Carbon isotopic composition of Frutexites in subseafloor ultramafic rocks. Biogeochemistry, 1-12.
• Koehler, M.C., Buick, R., Kipp, M.A., Stüeken, E.E. and Zaloumis, J., (2018). Transient surface ocean oxygenation recorded in the? 2.66-Ga Jeerinah Formation, Australia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(30), pp.7711-7716.
• Stüeken, E.E., Zaloumis, J., Meixnerová, J. and Buick, R., (2017). Differential metamorphic effects on nitrogen isotopes in kerogen extracts and bulk rocks. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 217, pp.80-94.