Oh...boy...it is that time of year again! It is interview time! I technically don't have to do five interviews this year because I already have an amazing mentor but I decided to do it anyway. Many people might think, "why do so much more work than you have?" Well, here is why. By talking to more professionals in this field, not only am I expanding my network, I am also gaining new perspectives in astrobiology. For example, for past year, my research has had a focus on martian meteorites. I studied day and night and traveled hundreds of miles to understand the red planet's ability to foster life. While this experience was amazing and life-changing, I still wanted to learn about other stuff within the field. One area of astrobiology that caught my eye was early earth ecosystems. It isn't topic that I have explored but I know it is crucial to understanding the red planet. If we can find similar patterns between Mars' past and also Earth's past, it will definitely lead to something extraordinary. Since I obviously don't everything about this subject, I contacted Dr. David Flanner from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is an expert on Earth's early ecosystems and is also one of the scientist lead on the Mars 2020 Rover. In other words, he is really cool! I read some of his work and watched a PBS Nova Documentary he was in and I just want to say he is amazing at what he does. What's even more exciting is that he agreed to do a quick research interview with me and explain to me about his work. I really hope something exciting comes of this.