Title: Graduate Student

Area(s):  Geochemistry

Group:  Geomicrobiology Research Laboratory

Research Summary:  My broad research goals are to characterize modern terrestrial analogs for extinct or extant microbial life on the early Earth, Mars, and other potentially-habitable bodies within the Solar System.  I currently study trace gas-oxidizing bacteria from a diverse range of environments, including the Antarctic Dry Valleys and Chilean hot springs.  Utilizing traditional microbiology along with modern -omics and analytical chemistry techniques, I determine the microbial community compositions of soils from these sites and analyze their lipid profiles for biomarkers.  I am particularly interested in the characterization of ether lipids such as GDGTs for their potential as biosignatures.

Keywords:  environmental microbiology, astrobiology, lipids, bioinformatics