Renowned exoplanet researcher Sarah Seager is bringing her quest to find another Earth back to Canada

Theres No Place Like Home. Unless, perhaps, your research involves finding a new home among the stars.

But world-renowned exoplanet researcher Sarah Seager says she’s excited to return to her terrestrial home of Canada, after leaving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to return to her alma mater, the University of Toronto.

Seeger’s research includes Earth 2.0 and the search for life beyond Earth, even in inhospitable environments such as the clouds of Venus.

After nearly 20 years at MIT, the U of T graduate says it was the right time to return to Toronto, where she grew up. His return also brings world-class research by a top scientist in Canada.

Seeger said, “Canada has always welcomed me, as has the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. I have received many awards from Canada; I am often invited to come back and visit.”

“So, this relationship of mine is kind of going.”

Seager will join the university’s Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) as a professor in September 2026.

She hopes to inspire the next generation of researchers – and she’s bringing some incredible projects with her.

“All my projects are coming with me to Canada,” he said. “Also, I look forward to starting new things.”

This is great news for CITA Director Shantanu Basu, the man behind bringing Seagar back to Canada.

“I think the visionary leadership she shows in this area is what attracts people to her,” Basu said.

“It attracts new people to the field and clearly helps us make the case with the people who fund science, which is ultimately the public.”

Life on Venus?

One of Seeger’s planned projects is Project: Search for Life in the Clouds of Venus.

In 2020, a The paper is co-authored by Seeger Phosphine has been claimed to be found in the planet’s clouds. This chemical signature is produced by organisms on Earth that do not need oxygen to survive, and can be created in laboratories.

Excitement grew over the idea that life could potentially exist on what is otherwise an extremely inhospitable planet, although the findings Interrogated in follow-up research By other scientists.

But Seeger and others want to know for sure. so came along morning StarA project that aims to send a mission from the Sun to another planet as early as the next decade.

One mission involves a balloon that will fly through the clouds of Venus and collect a sample from its atmosphere and then return it to Earth.

discover habitable worlds

When Seeger received his PhD from Harvard in 1994, only one exoplanet had been discovered. The second – orbiting a Sun-like star – was discovered in 1995.

Now, more than 6,000 exoplanets have been confirmed.

But so far, no Earth-like exoplanet has been discovered. This is because they are difficult to detect, they are relatively small and invisible to telescopes because they will be washed out by their star’s light.

Look NASA says worlds are waiting to meet:

This is what inspired Seeger towards a passion project: Project Starshade,

This mission would involve a unique spacecraft that would have a star’s shadow to block the light, potentially making it easier to detect an Earth-like planet.

For now, the project has been put on hold, Seeger said, but only temporarily.

US cuts an ‘opportunity’ for Canada: CITA

Basu said that he had wanted to recruit Sara to CITA for a long time.

“We always had this idea that she might be someone in the distant future that we could attract and bring back to Canada,” he said.

Then Trump administration started cuts in science programs,

“(We thought) hey, this could be an opportunity for Canada and Canadian science and research in general,” Basu said.

“So, the idea was that OK, maybe this is a good time to look for people in the United States who we always thought we wanted to attract… (and) she’s one of the most well-known Canadian scientists who also works abroad.”

CITA doesn’t yet have a focus on exoplanet research, Basu said, which is why SEEGER’s arrival is so exciting.

Basu said, “Our mission is to draw on cutting-edge science and push boundaries. And so, Sarah, that’s the definition of what she does.”

“She has been at the forefront of making predictions about what you will see in exoplanetary systems and atmospheres.”

Seeger’s research isn’t just about exoplanets. It’s about finding the right ingredients for life, so it includes lab work too.

“(You’re) definitely going to see more exoplanets in Toronto. Let’s just say that,” Seeger said of his experiments.

Basu said their interdisciplinary approach – “combining exoplanetary science with organic chemistry and aerosol engineering” – “is very compelling.”

“And that’s really part of CITA’s mission as well: to do theoretical astrophysics in a way that makes connections with other areas of astronomy and beyond,” he said.

For now, Seeger is busy preparing to return to the same university whose campus she passed by while attending high school.

“When you’re thinking about a life change, what could be a better change than moving home?” He said.