Matthew Pasek
Assistant Professor

Contact

Office: SCA 533
Phone: 813/974-8979
Email: mpasek@usf.edu

Education

Ph.D., Planetary Science- University of Arizona , 2006

B.S., Geology + Chemistry, College of William and Mary, 2002

Research

Understanding the origin of life from the perspective of meteorites, metabolism, and phosphorus.  Determining potentially prebiotic pathways leading to the origin of life using phosphorus redox cosmobiogeochemistry.

Cosmochemical studies of planetary systems as constrained by thermodynamic equilibrium models.  Cosmochemistry of meteorites and placing constraints on the impact history of the inner solar system.

Constraining redox processes in the modern phosphorus biogeochemical cycle, including the role of lightning and meteoritic impacts. 

Recent Publications

Pasek, M.A., and Block, K., 2009, Lightning Reduction of Phosphate: Implications for Phosphorus Biogeochemistry. Nature Geoscience 2, 553-556.

Bryant, D.E., Marriott, K.E.R., Macgregor, S.A., Fishwick, C.W.G., Pasek, M.A., and Kee, T.P., 2010, Plausible prebiotic ancestors of sugar-phosphates. Chemical Communications 46, 3726-3728.

Carter, E.A., Pasek, M.A., Smith, T., Kee, T.P., Hines, P., and Edwards, H.G.M., 2010, Rapid Raman mapping of a fulgurite. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 397, 2647-2658.

Carter, E.A., Hargreaves, M.D., Kee, T.P., Pasek, M.A., and Edwards, H.G.M., 2010, A Raman spectroscopic study of a fulgurite. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 368, 3087-3097.

Mousis, O., Lunine, J.I., Pasek, M., Cordier, D., Waite, J.H., Mandt, K.E., Lewis, W.S., and Nguyen, M-J., 2009, A primordial origin for the atmospheric methane of Saturn’s Moon Titan. Icarus 204, 749-751.

Mousis, O., Lunine, J.I., Thomas, C., Pasek, M., Marbouef, U., Alibert, Y., Ballenegger, V., Cordier, D., Ellinger, Y., Pauzat, F., and Picaud, S., 2009, Clathration of volatiles in the solar nebula and implications for the origin of Titan’s atmosphere. Astrophysical Journal 691, 1780-1786.

Bryant, D.E., Greenfield, D., Walshaw, R.D., Evans, S.M., Nimmo, A.E., Smith, C., Wang, L. Pasek, M.A., and Kee, T.P., 2009, Electrochemical studies of iron meteorites. Phosphorus redox chemistry on the early Earth. International Journal of Astrobiology 8, 27-36.

Pasek, M.A., Kee, T.P., Bryant, D.E., Pavlov, A.A., and Lunine, J.I., 2008, Production of potentially prebiotic condensed phosphates by phosphorus redox chemistry. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 47, 7918-7920.

Pasek, M.A., 2008, Rethinking early Earth phosphorus geochemistry. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105, 853-858. Pasek, M.A. and Lauretta, D.S. 2008, Extraterrestrial flux of potentially prebiotic C, N, and P to the early Earth. Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres 38, 5-21.