Dr Louise Thomas

Professional biography

Currently senior centre manager and associate director of AstrobiologyOU at The Open University.

AstrobiologyOU was intitially funded by Research England's Expanding Excellence in England funding scheme in 2019 (£7.4m). A group of 60 people who address the scientific, governance and ethical challenges associated with astrobiology, receive ongoing funding from UKSA, STFC, UKRI, The OU and other funding bodies.

This follows 7 years as a research manager managing a multi-million pound portfolio of bids and projects in STEM from EC, UKRI and charity funders, including being finance project manager for the 10m Euro EC funded Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure (38 global beneficiaries). 

I have a PhD in Geochemistry from the Open University - Uranium Series isotopes and Geochemistry from lavas from Lanzarote and Tenerife 1998.

Following my PhD I undertook postdoctoral research into large scale volcanic eruptions in Toba and Iceland and 10 years experience in laboratory management, prior to moving into research management.

Research interests

My academic career included lab management of the NERC Uranium Facility and research into timescales of magma genesis in Iceland, Canaries and Sumatra.