PI D'Arcy R. Meyer-Dombard
Associate Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences at UIC
Affiliate of the Department of Biological Sciences at UIC
Contact at drmd *at* uic.edu; Office phone: 312-996-2423
I'm interested in microbial processes in geochemically interesting environments, focussing on interfaces between microorganisms, fluids, and minerals. This includes biogeochemical cycling in hydrothermal systems, springs tapping into the "deep" biosphere, and systems where biomineralization is occurring. I use molecular (genomic), microbiological, geochemical, and isotopic parameters to identify the metabolic strategies, nutrient/energy requirements, and geochemical signatures (lipid biomarkers) of so-called "extreme" environments. My focus over the next several years will be carbon, nitrogen, and energy cycling in hydrothermal sediment and biofilm communities, and serpentinizing springs. I also have a long-standing interest in applications of Earth-analog environments in the study of Astrobiology and life in early Earth ecosystems, and currently have funding to study the ability of Earth microbes to adapt to environmental conditions like those found on the moon, Titan. New work in the area of soil microbiology in prairie, wetland, and landfill soils investigates the affect of perturbation on soil community structure and function. Check the 'Research' tab for more!
Affiliate of the Department of Biological Sciences at UIC
Contact at drmd *at* uic.edu; Office phone: 312-996-2423
I'm interested in microbial processes in geochemically interesting environments, focussing on interfaces between microorganisms, fluids, and minerals. This includes biogeochemical cycling in hydrothermal systems, springs tapping into the "deep" biosphere, and systems where biomineralization is occurring. I use molecular (genomic), microbiological, geochemical, and isotopic parameters to identify the metabolic strategies, nutrient/energy requirements, and geochemical signatures (lipid biomarkers) of so-called "extreme" environments. My focus over the next several years will be carbon, nitrogen, and energy cycling in hydrothermal sediment and biofilm communities, and serpentinizing springs. I also have a long-standing interest in applications of Earth-analog environments in the study of Astrobiology and life in early Earth ecosystems, and currently have funding to study the ability of Earth microbes to adapt to environmental conditions like those found on the moon, Titan. New work in the area of soil microbiology in prairie, wetland, and landfill soils investigates the affect of perturbation on soil community structure and function. Check the 'Research' tab for more!
EDGElab Students
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Judy Malas, Ph.D. Candidate
Judy graduated with B.S. in Environmental Science from Loyola University Chicago. Her research has focused on understanding microbial dynamics using laboratory cultivation techniques while working on two projects: 1) Comparative microbiology of landfill microcosms, and 2) High pressure cultivation of model organisms to investigate the potential habitability of ocean world Titan. Judy uses bioinformatics to study both of these systems through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, as well as genomics and transcriptomics. Judy’s Astrobiology work is aimed at understanding the limits of life at high pressure and determining the biosignatures produced by potential life on Titan. Links to publications: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.891528/full www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01127/full |
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Sarah Khoury, M.S student
Sarah Khoury (UIC graduate, B.S.) is investigating the impacts of microplastics on soil environments! As an undergraduate in the EDGElab, she experimented with adding microplastics to simulated landfill soils to see if changes occurred in those soils over time. Now as an M.S. student, Sarah has expanded that work to prairie and wetland soils. Sarah has looked to see if microplastics are a problem in soils from The Nachusa Grasslands, and is looking at how microbes from those soils colonize microplastics that were added to them. Nachusa Grasslands offers a wide range of ecotypes for study, and Sarah's microcosms consider stream sediments, wetland soils, and prairie soils. She spent considerable efforts developing a method for separation of microplastics from soil samples. |
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Michael Tanzillo, M.S. student
Michael joined the lab as a M.S. student after completing his undergraduate degree at UIC, and helping EDGElab launch its investigations into landfill soil microbiomes. His M.S. research focuses on investigations of microbial communities present in 'elevated temperature landfill' soil compared to 'normal' temperature landfill soils. Elevated temperature landfills are those that, for unknown reasons, build internal temperatures that can exceed 80C. Normal landfill temperatures are ~40-50C. Elevated temperature landfills can become hot enough that landfill leachate can erupt much like a geyser! Michael is investigating profiles of microbial communities through amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, to see how those in elevated temperatures compare to those of normal temperatures. This will be a first step in understanding the impact of high temperatures on normal landfill function and greenhouse gas emissions. |
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Jennifer Yeack, Postbac
Jennifer graduated from UIC in 2022 with a B.S. in Biology, and is now pursuing a Postbac while conducting research in EDGElab. Jennifer's interests are in Astrobiology and she joins our Titan group. She currently working to quantify biomass in our high pressure experiments, and we're excited to have her in the lab for the next year! |
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Dan Russo, Ph.D. candidate, Kenig laboratory
A student in Fabien Kenig's laboratory, Dan spends much of his time collaborating with EDGElab members on the NASA NAI Titan Astrobiology project. Dan is an organic geochemist, and is looking at how lipid membrane compositions and structures of Bacteria are impacted by exposure to high pressures (up to 800MPa), and variations in these responses to different test conditions. Future work will include working with Archaea, as well as adding the constraints of temperature to the experiments. |
EDGElab Undergraduates
William Kane - William Kane, an undergraduate research assistant and Earth and Environmental Science Major, is currently conducting research on cellulose degrading microorganisms from extreme environments including Yellowstone National Park and the Zambales Ophiolite, Philippines. They’re interested in learning about how microorganisms interact with their environment at high and low pHs with a particular focus on carbon cycling. They hope to use their research to gain hands-on experience in understanding Earth’s systems to positively affect our scientific knowledge and climate change.
Cimmy Nakum - Cimmy is an undergraduate student majoring in Biology who is researching cellulolytic bacteria from different extreme environments (such as Yellowstone National Park and springs in the Philippines). She is interested in how natural materials from surrounding environments affects the processes of Bacteria within the extreme environments.
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Mariah Morales - Mariah is an undergraduate majoring in Earth and Environmental Sciences. She transferred in after completing her associate's degree of science at City Colleges Chicago. Mariah became involved in the EDGE lab after completing a literature review on microplastics in the Chicago River for an honors EAES 180 course. She now helps graduate student Sarah Khoury collect data from the microcosms that simulate plastic polluted soils. She will begin her Honors College capstone that will expand on current microplastics in ecosystems research. Some of her other interests are environmental Social justice and public health.
Nhi Nguyen - The newest EDGElab recruit, Nhi is going to be helping out with the Nachusa Grasslands microbiome project. This project, in collaboration with PI Gavin McNicol, will investigate greenhouse gas flux from wetlands, prairie, and uplands. Nhi will be working on extracting DNA from the soil cores taken from the plots, to co-register microbial populations with gas measurements.
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