Christopher H. House was appointed interim department head on July 1, 2024, replacing Andy Nyblade who retired. Christopher H. House is a professor of geosciences at Penn State. House’s primary research includes studies on the origin and early evolution of microbial life and the geochemical signatures of such life. He has research expertise with prebiotic chemistry, microbial evolution, and the carbon isotopic composition of microbial cells.
Originally from California, as an undergraduate at UCSD, he spent two years in the origin of life chemistry laboratory of Dr. Stanley L. Miller.
House received his Ph.D. at UCLA with Dr. J. W. Schopf as his adviser. For his graduate work, he studied the carbon isotopic fractionation by various prokaryotes and the composition of the microfossils. During the last 24 years at Penn State, Dr. House has been a participant in four major ocean research cruises and is currently a collaborator of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory Science Team.
House is currently the Director of the Penn State Consortium for Planetary and Exoplanetary Science and Technology and leads the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium. He is a GSA Fellow and has received the EMS Excellence in Research Award.
