Jan Amend — professor of earth sciences and biological sciences and divisional dean for the life sciences at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences — has died, according to an announcement from Dean Amber Miller. The announcement, which Miller sent around 4 p.m. on Thursday, did not list a cause of death. Amend died on the night of January 31 at the age of 59, according to Dornsife. 

“I will remember Jan for his quiet sense of humor, his love for his family, dedication to his students and colleagues, his passion for ideas and scientific exploration, and his sage advice,” Miller wrote in the announcement. 

Amend joined Dornsife in 2011 after holding teaching and fellowship positions at Washington University and the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Study in Delmenhorst, Germany. He was promoted to the position of divisional dean in 2020.

After graduating from UC San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry in 1987, Amend earned his doctorate in geochemistry from UC Berkeley in 1995. 

Amend was the director of the National Science Foundation-funded Science and Technology Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations at USC from 2013 to 2021, where he worked on identifying microbial ocean life. He was also the principal investigator of the Amend Lab and of the NASA Astrobiology Institute Team. At the latter, he investigated the possibility of life on Mars from 2013 to 2019. 

Amend contributed to over 125 peer-reviewed published works, including papers on microbial organic matter and marine life.

Two gatherings have already been held to honor Amend at USC, one at Town and Gown on Thursday and one over Zoom on Friday. 

“He was a beloved colleague, a dedicated and admired mentor, an outstanding scientist and leader, and a cherished member of my leadership team,” Miller wrote. 

Amend is survived by his wife, Andrea. 

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the time of Amend’s death, which cannot be confirmed. The Daily Trojan regrets the error.