Asena’s research is deeply rooted in the interdisciplinarity of the CVU. She combines three-dimensional Global Climate Model (3D GCM) simulations with laboratory experiments to investigate surface conditions on potentially habitable worlds, including early Mars and rocky exoplanets. Her modeling work helps define the environmental parameters, while her experiments test whether terrestrial life could survive under such conditions.

Her laboratory research bridges biology and geology: she studies anaerobic microbial species and examines how different mineral substrates influence their growth and survival. More recently, she has expanded her work to field investigations at terrestrial analog sites for early Mars, particularly the Karaada geothermal site, where she characterizes environmental properties to better constrain habitability scenarios.