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Michael A. Arthur,
Professor of Geosciences
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Biogeochemistry and
paleoclimatology/ paleoceanography. Using stable isotopes of oxygen, carbon,
nitrogen and sulfur to understand present and past global biogeochemical cycles,
particularly those related to burial of organic matter and formation of
widespread ancient "black shales" and their modern analogues (Black
Sea, Peru margin). Arthur and his students are presently researching elements of
the Neoproterozoic "snowball Earth" and the role of volcanism and
outgassing of carbon dioxide in climate forcing in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic.
Possible Summer Program projects could include study of nitrogen cycling in
modern and ancient anoxic basins, including Fayetteville Green Lake (NY) and
causes of major phosphogenic episodes such as that at the end of the Precambrian.
Susan L. Brantley, Professor of Geosciences
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Chemical and physical processes associated with the circulation of aqueous
fluids in shallow hydro-geologic settings. Investigations incorporate field
and laboratory work, and theoretical modeling of observations. Of particular
interest are questions concerning the measurement and prediction of the rates of
natural processes, including chemical weathering with and without
microorganisms. Recent work has focused on the effect of microbial life on
mineral reactivity, and extraction of nutrients from rocks by microorganisms.
Projects for REU students might include investigation of Fe, Mo, or Cu
extraction from minerals by microbes and organic ligands, comparison of basalt
weathering profiles from various locations, including Mars analogue
environments, or characterization of microbial communities as a function of
depth in weathered geological samples.
Greg Ferry, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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Ferry's website
Anaerobic microbial physiology.
The goal of this research is a physiological
understanding of ancient metabolic pathways that provide insight into the origin
and early evolution of life on Earth. Biochemical, genetic, and molecular
biology tools are used to probe anaerobic energy yielding pathways in the
Archaea domain of life. The microorganisms under investigation are the
methane-producing Archaea, specifically acetate utilizing species from the genus
Methanosarcina. Possible REU projects would originate from recent
proteomic and microarray analysis of global gene expression that has identified
several novel proteins for which the function remains to be determined. The REU
student would have a choice of applying biochemical tools to determine
structure/function relationships of proteins, or molecular biology
tools to generate knockouts of the encoding genes followed by
phenotypic analysis.
Katherine H. Freeman,
Professor
of Geosciences
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Molecular
and isotopic indicators of ancient biotic, oceanographic and climatic processes.
Biogeochemistry of organic matter in marine and terrestrial environments.
Petroleum and source rock geochemistry. Analytical methods in organic and
stable-isotope geochemistry. Freeman and her students employ stable isotopes
of carbon and hydrogen, the structures and distribution of natural organic
compounds and tools from molecular biology to understand paleoclimates, ancient
microbial ecosystems, and biogeochemical processes in modern and ancient
environments. She works with sediments deposited in wetlands, oceans, lakes and
soils. Possible Summer Program projects could include molecular and isotopic
signatures of microbial ecosystems during the Archean, microbial diversity and
function in modern sediments, and studies of relationships between
atmospheric CO2,
climate change and terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
David Geiser,
Associate Professor of Plant Pathology
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Evolutionary biology of Fungi.
Molecular data indicate that most of the major lineages of Fungi originated deep
in the pre-Cambrian, suggesting that they were early inhabitants of the Earth's
terrestrial environment, perhaps assisting plants in their invasion of land
through various forms of symbiosis. Fungi offer a wealth of genomic data
compared to other groups of organisms, providing an excellent opportunity for
using phylogenetic and molecular clock approaches to better understand the roles
of Fungi in the development of terrestrial life. Possible REU projects include
using Fungi with advanced genomics such as the genus Aspergillus to
elucidate their phylogenetics and correlate intrageneric divergence times
within to transitions to association
with living plants.
Blair Hedges, Professor of
Biology (Director, Astrobiology Summer Program)
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Hedges' website
Evolutionary biology and genomics.
The data and methods of molecular evolution are used to estimate divergence
times and phylogenies, and other information is drawn from earth history and the
fossil record. The sequence databases, including genomic data, are tapped to
address these questions and new sequence data are collected as needed.
Mechanisms responsible for the origin of major groups and their evolutionary
radiation are studied and the ultimate goal is to better understand the
relationship between the evolution of life and the evolution of Earth's
environment. Possible Summer Program projects include evolutionary analyses of major
groups of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and their relation to the origin of
eukaryotes, “snowball Earth” events, and the Cambrian Explosion of animals.
Christopher House, Associate
Professor of Geosciences
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Microbial Geobiology. This
laboratory uses diverse techniques including microbial cultivation, genome-wide
phylogenetics, and microbial paleontology to understand the evolutionary history
of microorganisms on the Earth. House and his students are involved in projects
that include applying the ion microprobe for the study of carbon isotopic
composition of microbial cells - past and present, surveying the relationship
between gene expression and environmental geochemistry in some microorganisms of
interest to Astrobiology, generally expanding the knowledge-base for geochemical
microbial signatures such as carbon isotopic fractionation, and developing
phylogenetic methods that utilize the whole genomic sequences available in
public databases. Possible Summer Program projects would include study of carbon isotopic
fractionation in diverse modern microbes, the analysis of genomic data to
explore microbial evolution, and metal leaching from minerals by
hyperthermophilic microorganisms.
James Kasting, Distinguished Professor of Geosciences
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Kasting's website
Modeling the atmospheres of the early Earth
and Earth-like planets. Professor Kasting and his
students make one-dimensional (globally averaged) models of atmospheric
photochemistry and climate. They use these models to study the long-term
evolution of Earth and to try to estimate what the chances might be of finding
Earth-like planets around other stars. These models are reasonably user-friendly
and could be used by a summer student to examine different ideas about how
Earth's atmosphere might have evolved. Prior experience with Fortran is highly
desirable.
Jennifer Macalady,
Assistant Professor of Geosciences
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Geomicrobiology. Dr.
Macalady studies microbial interactions with earth materials. Geomicrobiologists
explore how microorganisms shape Earth's environment in the present and over
geologic time scales, making use of techniques and ideas drawn from many areas
of chemistry, geology, biology and ecology. Geomicrobiology has strong ties with
astrobiology. Students in the geomicrobiology lab use molecular biology (nucleic
acids), microbial cultivation, and geochemical methods to answer ecological and
biogeochemical questions about modern microbial ecosystems and analogous ancient
microbial communities. Possible topics for REU projects include: What is the
microbial role in the formation of large caves? How do microorganisms exchange
genes and how fast? What controls how many microbial species can be found in a
given spot? How do asteroid impacts influence the activity of microorganisms
living deep in the earth's crust? How do methane-eating microorganisms in
wetlands influence the balance of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere?
Steinn Sigurdsson, Associate Professor of
Astronomy & Astrophysics
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Planet formation, dynamical evolution of planetary systems, non-solar planets
and detection stategies.
Formation of planets in
non-solar like stellar systems may provide valuable clues to planet formation
processes and offer alternative strategies for extrasolar planet detection. The
dynamical evolution of planetary systems, both at early and late times, may also
lead to opportunities for detection of otherwise undetectable planets. Students
need a very strong background in mathematics, and be willing to work on computer
similations. Possible summer projects include dynamical evolution of unstable
planetary systems, planetary exchange and collision processes and the
interaction of planetesimals with planets, including implications for detection.
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