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Dr. Susan Childers
(childers@uidaho.edu) Dr. Childers is assistant professor at UI and heads the geomicrobiology research team. She obtained her PhD in microbiology from the University of Connecticut and has held postdoctoral positions at Montana State University and University of Massachusetts. |
| CURRENT GRADUATE CANDIDATES | ||
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Stephanie Smith
(stephaniesmith@vandals.uidaho.edu) Stephanie is investigating microbes that respire selenate or (per)chlorate, both of which are water soluble pollutants in subsurface environments. She joined the lab in 2008. |
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| Kelle Phelps
(phel2383@vandals.uidaho.edu) Kelle is investigating the physiology and regulation of arsenite oxidation in thermophilic bacteria. Her research will further our understanding of physiological processes dominant in geothermal environments, and will provide insights on the regulation of metabolisms of significance to life on early Earth. She joined the lab in 2008. |
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| Lisa Kirk
(Ph.D. candidate since 2004, Land Resources and Environmental
Sciences, Montana State University) Lisa is investigating microorganisms that reduce selenate, a metalloid of concern to the phosphate mining industry in southeast Idaho. Her efforts will lead to the development of a strategy for the bio-immobilization of selenium associated with mining wastes. |
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Samir Shahat
(samir@uidaho.edu) (Ph.D., Chemistry; candidate for M.S. in Environmental Science) Samir is using molecular tools to investigate the microbial diversity within an iron-saturated bay. The bay is a potential modern analogue of the PreCambrian environment in which iron accumulated resulting in the deposition of banded iron formations. |
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| UNDERGRADUATE/SENIOR THESIS STUDENTS | ||
| Ana Gabica (EnvS)
(gabi5850@vandals.uidaho.edu) Project: Investigation of extremophilic microorganisms that degrade potential fuel stocks of relevance to bioenergy production. |
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| Andres Mendez (EnvS)
(mendez@vandals.uidaho.edu) Project: The impact of nanomaterials on microbial processes of significance in subsurface environments. |
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| Eric Matson (EnvS)
(eric.matson@vandals.uidaho.edu) Project: Investigation of the dissolution of arsenic sorbed-zerovalent iron particles by iron reducing bacteria. |
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| SUPERVISOR | ||
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Zodiak Supervisor, field reconnaissance, hot-springs finder |
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| FORMER LAB PERSONNEL | ||
| Gilbert Flores (M.S. EnvS, 2006) |
Gilbert's research investigated microbial oxidation of arsenite in geothermal waters of the Alvord Basin, southeast Oregon. Gilbert is currently pursuing a PhD at Portland State University (Biology Department). | |
| Lisa Mayhew (M.S. Geol, 2006) |
Lisa's research looked at the phylogeny of microbial communities associated with fumaroles of varying temperature and pH on volcanoes of the Galapagos Islands. Lisa is currently working on a PhD at the University of Colorado, Boulder (Geology Department). | |
| Tae Gwan Kin (post-doc, PSES) |
Tae Gwan's research was to use genes for the small subunit rRNA and for the enzyme arsenite oxidase to compare the microbial diversity within different geothermal springs exhibiting arsenite oxidation. He is currently working on a post-doc at U of I in the Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences department. | |
| Ian Greene (B.S. Geol, 2007) |
Ian worked on a variety of projects involving the isolation of anaerobes, thermophiles, and halophiles, and the construction of 16S rRNA clone libraries from low biomass environments. | |
| Andrew Corcoran (Summer 2008 REU student; currently at UC-Fullerton) |
Andrew performed growth studies to characterize arsenite oxidation by a thermophile not previously known to interact with arsenite. | |
| Trevor Fulton (Senior EnvS) |
Trevor worked on a project to determine if natural hot springs more frequented by humans harbored thermophilic microorganisms with a greater tolerance to common antibiotics than hot springs scarcely visited. | |