Renowned exoplanet researcher Sara Seager is bringing her quest to find another Earth back home to Canada
CBC
There’s no place like home. Unless, perhaps, your research involves finding a new home among the stars.
But world-renowned exoplanet researcher Sara Seager says she's excited to be returning to her terrestrial home of Canada, after leaving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to go back to her alma mater, the University of Toronto.
Seager's research includes searching for Earth 2.0 and life beyond Earth, even in inhospitable atmospheres like the clouds of Venus.
After about 20 years at MIT, the U of T graduate says the timing was right for her return to Toronto, where she grew up. Her return also brings world-class research by a top scientist to Canada.
“Canada has always welcomed me, like the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. I've got a bunch of awards from Canada; I'm often invited just to come back and visit,” Seager said.
“So, I've kind of had this ongoing relationship.”
Seager will join the university’s Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) as professor in September 2026.
She hopes to inspire the next generation of researchers — and she’s bringing some incredible projects with her.
“All of my projects are coming with me to Canada,” she said. “In addition, I hope to start new things.”
That’s great news for CITA’s director, Shantanu Basu, the man behind bringing Seager back to Canada.
“I think the visionary leadership that she shows in this field is what draws people in,” Basu said.
“That draws in new people into the field and frankly helps us make the case with the people who fund the science, which is ultimately the public.”
One of Seager's planned projects is a doozy: Looking for life in the clouds of Venus.
In 2020, a paper co-authored by Seager claimed to have found phosphine in the planet's clouds. This chemical signature is produced on Earth by organisms that don’t need oxygen to survive, and can be created in laboratories.
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