Sean McMahon
@seanhmcmahon.bsky.social
Astrobiologist & palaeobiologist @ Univ. Edinburgh / Co-director, UK Centre for Astrobiology / Director, MSc Astrobiology & Planetary Sciences / Deputy Chair, Council for the Defence of British Universities. https://www.astrobiology.ac.uk/mcmahon-group
It was a great pleasure this week to welcome renowned astrobiologist Dr Frances Westall back to her alma mater @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social to receive the honorary DSc degree in recognition of her many contributions to astrobiology (Photographs by www.andrewperry.co.uk).
November 21, 2025 at 1:23 PM
It was a great pleasure this week to welcome renowned astrobiologist Dr Frances Westall back to her alma mater @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social to receive the honorary DSc degree in recognition of her many contributions to astrobiology (Photographs by www.andrewperry.co.uk).
My friend Alex Liu is offering TWO postdoc positions in #paleontology and #sedimentology at Cambridge focused on some spectacular new Ediacaran-age localities in southern Namibia... www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
November 15, 2025 at 11:45 AM
My friend Alex Liu is offering TWO postdoc positions in #paleontology and #sedimentology at Cambridge focused on some spectacular new Ediacaran-age localities in southern Namibia... www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
‼️New PhD project in Edinburgh: "Animals, traits, and oxygen in the Ediacaran Nama Group, Namibia". Supervised by Rachel Wood (Amelia Penny and I co-supervising) — big UK+Namibian team — help us understand early animal evolution! Apply by Dec 14th #paleontology
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
November 9, 2025 at 8:16 PM
‼️New PhD project in Edinburgh: "Animals, traits, and oxygen in the Ediacaran Nama Group, Namibia". Supervised by Rachel Wood (Amelia Penny and I co-supervising) — big UK+Namibian team — help us understand early animal evolution! Apply by Dec 14th #paleontology
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
Congratulations to Ruby Allen-Brown for winning the UKCA-Harding Essay Prize 2025. You can read Ruby's winning entry at: www.astrobiology.ac.uk/opportunitie...
October 27, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Congratulations to Ruby Allen-Brown for winning the UKCA-Harding Essay Prize 2025. You can read Ruby's winning entry at: www.astrobiology.ac.uk/opportunitie...
New paper led by my PhD student, Edwin Rodriguez! Building on previous work, we present a systematic description of the ONE BILLION YEAR OLD fossils of the phosphates of the Diabaig Formation, NW Scotland — including some early eukaryotes and new species... #paleontology #fossils #geology
September 16, 2025 at 9:27 AM
New paper led by my PhD student, Edwin Rodriguez! Building on previous work, we present a systematic description of the ONE BILLION YEAR OLD fossils of the phosphates of the Diabaig Formation, NW Scotland — including some early eukaryotes and new species... #paleontology #fossils #geology
Just discovered this absolute gem of a time-saver. Thanks @anboa4.bsky.social!
September 13, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Just discovered this absolute gem of a time-saver. Thanks @anboa4.bsky.social!
Contact (1997) played tonight at the UK Centre for Astrobiology's monthly film night. Third or fourth time I've seen it... but so few movies capture the wonder, emotion, and excitement of science and exploration this well. There's a bit of Jodie Foster's Ellie Arroway in every scientist I know.
August 28, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Contact (1997) played tonight at the UK Centre for Astrobiology's monthly film night. Third or fourth time I've seen it... but so few movies capture the wonder, emotion, and excitement of science and exploration this well. There's a bit of Jodie Foster's Ellie Arroway in every scientist I know.
Hello! I'm Sean, an astrobiologist and palaeobiologist at the University of Edinburgh. You can read about my group's work on fossilization, false biosignatures, Mars and early life here: www.astrobiology.ac.uk/mcmahon-group. Here's me in Namibia — and a billion-year-old Scottish fossil...
August 20, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Hello! I'm Sean, an astrobiologist and palaeobiologist at the University of Edinburgh. You can read about my group's work on fossilization, false biosignatures, Mars and early life here: www.astrobiology.ac.uk/mcmahon-group. Here's me in Namibia — and a billion-year-old Scottish fossil...
A great pleasure to meet collaborators from @naturalis.bsky.social the other week to kick off our @hfspo.bsky.social -funded collaboration on biosignatures and life detection!
May 6, 2025 at 2:14 PM
A great pleasure to meet collaborators from @naturalis.bsky.social the other week to kick off our @hfspo.bsky.social -funded collaboration on biosignatures and life detection!