Sean McMahon

Sean McMahon is a senior academic and research scientist at the University of Edinburgh, where he co-directs the UK Centre for Astrobiology, leads the Planetary Palaeobiology Group and runs the UK’s first MSc programme in Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences. His research combines fieldwork, experiments, computer models and sample analysis (with instruments like those on Mars rovers) to explore early life on Earth, fossilization and the search for life on Mars and beyond – work that often makes news headlines across the world. As well publishing more than 60 academic articles, he has a passion for writing for the broader public.

McMahon is currently at work on a book titled How to Find a Fossil on Mars: Alien Rocks, a Vanished World and the Nature of Life in the Universe, to be published in 2026 by Oneworld (UK) and University of Chicago Press (US).

Personal website
University of Edinburgh profile
X: @SeanHMcMahon