Dr Graziella Caprarelli obtained her PhD in Earth Sciences from the University ‘La Sapienza’ (Rome, Italy), and after two postdocs in Japan moved to Australia, where she worked as an academic at the University of Adelaide, and then at the University of Technology, Sydney. She joined the University of South Australia as Inaugural Associate Professor in Space Science in 2014. Dr Caprarelli is also a Research Professor (Adjunct) with the International Research School of Planetary Sciences (Pescara, Italy) and a participant in scientific teams of Mars mission experiments. She has published extensively on the geological evolution of the planet Mars. She is the founder and leader of the Mars Australian Remote Virtual Experiment Laboratory (MARVEL). MARVEL is a collaborative research, education and outreach environment devoted to advancing scientific knowledge about Mars, and engaging students, teachers and the community in the scientific process of discovery through active participation in its scientific activities.