2004 HIGHLIGHTS
Jen Biddle participated in a science steering group to guide NASA in its design of future Mars Rovers. The group’s task was to anticipate results from the current MERs, the 2007 lander called Phoenix and the 2009 rovers called Mars Science Laboratory, and start conceptually planning a mission to launch in 2013, which is currently deemed the Astrobiology Field Lab. “It was quite intimidating being the only graduate student on a 21 person committee, but my experience with BRIE not only helped me converse with the geologists and physicists assembled, it also gave me the pedigree that was well recognized on the committee,” says Jen. “I could confidently respond to questions such as: oh, do you interact with Kate Freeman? Sue Brantley? Chris House? Imagine my shock when the only group member from overseas said, ‘Oh, Penn State? Are you in BRIE?’ The BRIE program helped me succeed in this interdisciplinary setting and who knows...it may leave its effect on Mars someday!”
Courtney Turich used her BRIE research credit card to conduct field and analytical work that was the basis for her Ph.D. thesis proposal. Her thesis research involves comparing water chemistry, isotopic compositions and microbial membrane lipids distributions to discover how Archaeal ether lipids preserved as fossil biomarkers may serve as paleoenvironmental proxies. The proposal was adapted into an NSF funded project "Molecular Distributions and D/H Ratios of Marine Archaea Lipids: Evaluating their Potential as Paleosalinity Proxies" (NSF OCE-327377, Dr. Katherine Freeman, PI).
Heather Buss received RCC support for a project entitled: Microbial Influences on Mineral Weathering in a Tropical Watershed, Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico. The goal of the project was to investigate microbial colonization, chemistry, and microtopography of mineral surfaces with respect to the mineralogy and environmental conditions to assess the influence of microorganisms on chemical weathering in the saprolite of the Rio Icacos watershed in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. In June 2003 a suite of solid samples was collected from the LEF. Heather then mentored three undergraduate students at York College of Pennsylvania who helped perform microbiological analyses on the saprolite collected in the LEF. One of the York students, Matt Schultz, presented a poster at the Environmental Chemistry Student Symposium, March 21-22, 2004. Matt also was a 2004 BRIE summer undergraduate scholar.
2003 HIGHLIGHTS
Keith Goyne defended his dissertation "Influence of Intraparticle Mesoporosity on the Sorption of Polar Organic Compounds to Alumina and Silica" in June 2003 and is continuing with his post doc at University of Arizona.
Amy Barnes successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis “The Surface of Sodium Aluminophosphate Glass: Adsorption of Water and Aminosilanes” in March 2003.
BRIE participants Jen Biddle, Jen Eigenbrode and Julie Maresca were awarded 2002-2004 Space Grant Fellowships. The Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium fellowships recognizes outstanding students in fields of study that promote the understanding, assessment, and utilization of Space or the NASA Strategic Enterprises: Aero-Space Technology, Earth Science, HEDS, Space Science, Biological and Physical Research.
Heather Buss (BRIE trainee, Geosciences) attended the Inaugural Ceremony celebrating the opening of the new premises of the Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB) in Madrid on January 14, 2003. The trip was made possible by an award from the Penn State NASA Astrobiology Institute. The travel award was for students who demonstrated a clear commitment to the field of astrobiology, to increasing collaboration between the NAI and the international community, and to research of the highest caliber.
2002 HIGHLIGHTS
James Moran, BRIE grad student, was awarded First Place, Graduate Student Oral Presentation, at the ABASM 2002 Meeting at Clarion University, November 16, 2002. Jim’s presentation was titled “A stable isotope test for anaerobic methane oxidation in pure archaeal cultures.” Coauthors were BRIE faculty Kate Freeman, Greg Ferry, and Chris House
Mark Strynar, BRIE graduate student, presented a poster at the 20th Anniversary Biennial Conference of the International Humic Substances Society, which was held in Boston from July 21-26, 2002. The presentation received a “Best Poster” award as one of the top 4 posters out of 155 at the conference. The poster was entitled "Molecular weight distribution of methylated humic acid in an organic solvent system." The paper’s authors include Nobuhide Fujitake, Mark J. Strynar, Taketoshi Mishima, Mayuko Tsukamoto, Takeshi Suzuki, Hiroo Otsuka, Jerzy Dec, Jean-Marc Bollag. The research stemmed from work Mark did in Japan with Dr. Fujitake as part of a BRIE travel grant.
Keith Goyne, BRIE grad student, was the winner of the Third International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds - Student Paper Competition for his paper entitled “Influence of mineral mesoporosity and surface chemistry on the sorption of 2,4-D”. The conference was held May 20-23, 2002 in Monterey, California. Keith Goyne was also Co-Coach for the University of Arizona Soil Judging Team. The team took 7th place at the 42nd Annual National Soil Judging Competition held near Redwing, Minnesota.
Laura Lierman (Research Assistant) and Courtney Turich (BRIE grad student) volunteered during Visiting Scientists Day at the Nittany Science Camp for Girls, held on July 20th at Penn State’s Shavers Creek Environmental Center.
Gary A. Icopini, BRIE-related post-doc, Andrew R. Zimmerman, BRIE post-doc, and Michael E. Frodyma, BRIE post-doc, convened a special session titled “Microbial activity on mineral and rock surfaces” at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December 2002 in San Francisco. This session highlighted some of the newest results and methods for examining bacterially mediated elemental cycling by microbes in geological environments. Participants in the session focused on laboratory studies of bacterially mediated Fe and Mn reduction, endolithic communities from basalt and hydrothermal systems and advanced methods of probing the microscale interaction of bacteria and mineral surfaces.
Jen Biddle (BRIE grad student) and Courtney Turich (BRIE grad student) traveled to the American Geophysical Union meeting in December 2002 to present their poster describing data from diverse molecular and geochemical techniques applied to Bear Meadows sediments. Their paper was accepted for the special session “Microbial community structure and activity and its effect on biogeochemical cycles in sediments and soil".
Mark Strynar, successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation, Determination of binding interactions between xenobiotic chemicals and soil humic material, on November 4, 2002.
2001 HIGHLIGHTS
Keith Goyne (BRIE grad student) taught a three day course entitled “Dr. Clay Loam – Soil Scientist” to 4th grade students at the State College Friends School. This multimedia and hands-on course taught students about soil formation, fertility, erosion, and microbiology. A half-day field trip was utilized to reinforce concepts by discussing and investigating soils in their natural setting. The course was Keith’s Teaching Credit Card proposal for BRIE.
