NASA Planetary Biology Internship

Heike Freese

Sponsor - Dr. Jay Garland, Kennedy Space Center in Florida

Substrate dependent respiration of aquatic bacteria

Heike is originally from Germany. She is currently at the Institute of Aquatic Ecology at the University of Rostock in Rostock, Germany. Since 2003, as a graduate student in Germany, Heike has worked with Prof. Dr. Ulf Karsten and Dr. Rhena Schumann. Her research interests include the analysis of the functional and genetic diversity of bacterioplankton of the river Warnow (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany). She performed her PBI research with Dr. Jay Garland at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Her PBI project was on substrate dependent respiration of aquatic bacteria. The source of bacteria for Heike's project was the Warnow River in Northeast Germany, which supplies the drinking water for the town of Rostock. Her interest in the enumeration and activity of bacteria in the water led her to study the activation of dormant bacterial species by the utilization of specific amino acids. Heike continues her research in the area of aquatic ecology as a doctoral student. The title of her thesis is "Functional and genetic diversity of pelagic bacteria in limnic ecosystems".

Alberto Gonzalez-Fairen

Sponsor- Dr. Chris McKay, NASA Ames Research Center

Geological assessment and geochemistry of the Noachian martian oceans

Alberto was born in Madrid, Spain, where he has pursued his doctoral degree with Prof. Ricardo Amils at the Cenro de Biologia Molecular of the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid. He is completing his Ph.D. thesis entitled "Acidic oceans in early Earth and Mars: assessment of the Tinto River system as a possible model for iron-driven environments".

Alberto had published extensively on the topic of Mars prior to his participation as a PBI. He continued his scientific exploration of Mars as a PBI working with Dr. Chris McKay at the NASA Ames Research Center. The title of Alberto's PBI project was "Geological assessment and geochemistry of the Noachian martian oceans". Alberto says, "My research experience and area of specialization concerns the history of water on Mars and the geochemistry of the martian oceans".

Natsuko Kawazoe

Sponsor - Prof. Stanley Awramik, University of California Santa Barbara

Stromatolites-building Microbial Ecosystem Study - As a pathway to the ecosystem conservation

Photo not available

Pascal Lapierre

Sponsor - Dr. Jonathan Trent, NASA Ames Research Center

Characterization of a thermosome-like chaperonin (TF55) in the cyanobacteria Gloeobacter violaceus.

During his internship, Pascal studied the possible presence of a Group II chaperonin protein in the cyanobacteria Gloeobacter violaceus. If confirmed, this will be the first example of an horizontal gene transfer from the archaeal to the bacterial domain of an group II HSP molecule. The goal of this project consisted of phylogenetic analysis, microscopy imaging, biochemical and immunological assays to determine if this proteins found in G. violaceus has the same structure and properties of the others archaeal HSP molecules.

Pascal is a Canadian doing his Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut working on the horizontal transfer of ATP synthase and on the molecular clock hypothesis. He also held a Master’s degree from Laval University, Quebec, studying and developing tools for the rapid identification of quinolones resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Joanna Morakinyo

Sponsor- Prof. James Ferris, RPI

Synthesis of RNA from activated mononucleotides

Photo not available

Cody Nash

Sponser - Dr. Kenneth Nealson, University of Southern California Extremophilic Magnetotactic Bacteria Originally from the United States of America, Cody is carrying out research for his Ph.D. thesis at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. His thesis title is "The evolution and mechanisms of biologically controlled magnetic mineralization". His PBI project on magnetotactic bacteria in hypersaline, hyperalkaline and thermal environments has expanded the environmental range in which these fossil forming organisms are found. He is currently preparing a publication based on his work carried out during his PBI Internship.

Alisha Pagel

Sponsor- Dr. Jay Garland, Kennedy Space Center in Florida

Florida scrub-oak soil and leaf litter microbial communities response to elevated atmospheric CO2, and nutrient additions.

Alisha has done her graduate studies at the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She is "interested in microbes, more specifically rhizosphere communities". As a PBI she investigated the Influence of Elevated Atmospheric CO₂ on Belowground Processes in a Florida Scrub-Oak Ecosystem, including the roots, mycorrhizae, soil carbon and soil microbial communities. The intentions of her study were to determine if the nutrient limitation of the microbial communities in the litter and soil was altered by carbon dioxide treatment, whether microbial communities were more acclimated to a natural substrate taken from the same treated sample, whether the use of natural substrates will differentiate communities and whether or not carbon dioxide treatment caused noticeable change in terms of microbial response. She concluded that "along with changes in soil carbon cycling from elevated CO₂, there are changes in nutrient cycling".

Ilyas Siddique

Sponsor- Dr. Eric Davidson, Woods Hole Research Center

Nutrient use and nitrogen-fixation by prominent woody species in N and P co-limited secondary vegetation on degraded pastures of Eastern Amazonia

Ilyas is originally from Germany. His research has been focused on vegetation ecology, soil science, nutrient cycling and crop physiology and ecology. He is currently at the Department of Botany at the University of Queensland in Australia. His Ph.D. research is on the effects of functional composition of mixed tree plantings on nitrogen and phosphorus use and cycling in degraded soils.

Ilys' PBI project was on nutrient use and nitrogen fixation by woody species in N and P co-limited secondary vegetation on degraded pastures of Eastern Amazonia. His abstract, based on this work, was accepted for the IUFRO World Congress 2005 held in Brisbane/Australia August 8-13, 2005. The abstract will appear in a special issue of International Forestry Review.

A. Michael Sismore

Sponsor- Dr. Gerald Joyce, The Scripps Research Institute

Six letter DNAzymes: The catalytic potential of "Alien" DNA

Michael is originally from Florida. He is pursuing his Ph.D. on "The design and synthesis of a genetic system for a synthetic biology" at the University of Florida. He says that "Elucidating the chemical and molecular properties required of a genetic system are crucial to our understanding of DNA and evolution, as well as the search for extraterrestrial life and the development of genetic based drugs". Michael's research has focused on the development of genetic systems based on DNA containing three and four mutually exclusive base pairs, rather than the two typically found in our genetic system. His work is credited with the development of two such genetic systems, both capable of directing their own replication, transmitting information, and suffering mutation; "all prerequisites of Darwinian evolution," he says.

Michael's PBI research developed a genotypic-phenotypic relationship by performing in vitro selection experiments on his artificial genetic systems to develop catalytic artificial DNA. "The propensity for catalysis was passed from one generation of molecules to the next, thus evolving a link between information and fitness for survival. These genetic systems are a major step towards the creation of artificial life: if not already meeting this goal."

Linsey Touminen

Sponsor- Dr. Lanfang H. Levine, Kennedy Space Center

Identification and quantification of glucosinolates isolated from stems of Brassica rapa cv. Astroplants grown under spaceflight and ground control conditions

Linsey is originally from Minnesota. She received her M.S. in Plant Biology at the University of Massachusetts. Her Master's work was on two model organisms for determining indirect effects of microgravity on plant metabolism: Glycine max and Brassica rapa. In her thesis work she examined the effects of cytokinin concentration and gas diffusion rate on growth and secondary metabolism of soybean (Glycine max) tissue culture. Her interest in Brassica rapa was to determine whether auxin had any effect on tissue cultured siliques and the seeds developing from them.

Linsey's PBI project was on the identification and quantification of glucosinolates isolated from stems of Brasica rapa cv. Astroplants grown under spaceflight and ground control conditions.

Lalitha Viswanath

Sponsor- Prof. George Fox, University of Houston

Genome Display Tool

Lalitha is from India. She is a graduate student at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where she is pursuing a Master's degree. She worked with Dr. George Fox at the University of Houston on the development of the Java-based software tool, Genome Display Tool, which allows the user to view the distribution of different feature in a set of genes or proteins. She describes the program as "interactive... allow[ing] the user to select multiple features to be analyzed simultaneously. The user can view these features in numerous colors and shapes. The software merges colors and shapes for genes meeting multiple criteria simultaneously. This ability to merge rather than replace, colors and shapes enables the user to locate genes or proteins with [an] overlapping set of attributes instantaneously. It can also be used to analyze interesting features in the upstream and downstream region of the gene or protein sequences by displaying suitable feature in the regions corresponding to the same.

Lalitha reports that "the Java skills that I have learned have been put to extensive use in my Master's thesis, which involves developing a Java-based tool for measuring interference in crossovers". She says, "The NASA PBI internship has been extremely useful in building my sill sets and helped me network with people who are interested in the same research".

Kathrin Witte

Sponsor- Dr. Linda L. Jahnke, NASA Ames Research Center

Lipid composition from Microcoleus chthonoplastes from different habitats of the Baltic Sea

Kathrin is originally from Rostock on the Baltic Sea in Germany. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Rostock. Her research is on the development of ecotypes in M. chthonoplastes along a salinity gradient in the Baltic Sea. She conducts her research using physiological, biochemical and genetic methods.

Kathrin's PBI research involved lipid analysis of M. chthonoplastes from different habitats along a salinity gradient in the Baltic Sea.

Lars Wörmer

Sponsor - Dr. John F Stolz, Duquesne University

Degradation of 3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid (Roxarsone) by Chlostridium sp. OhiLAs

Lars is a German national born in Spain. He is pursuing a doctoral degree in Environmental Science at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). His thesis is entitled Degradation of dissolved cyanobacterial toxins (microcystins) in the environment and in microcosm enclosures. He is interested in the distribution dynamics of microcystins, which are toxins produced naturally by cyanobacteria frequently found in diverse aquatic systems, including freshwater reservoirs.

He performed his PBI research with Dr. John Stolz at Duquesne University. His research focused on the biodegradation of 3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid (Roxarsone) by Chlostridium sp. OhiLAs to arsenate.

Kwabena Amponsah-Manager PBI Sponsor - Dr. Michael Roberts, NASA Kennedy Space Center Molecular Profiling of Bacterial and Fungal Community Composition Within Compost Bulking Agent from a Research Space Bioreactor. Originally from Ghana, Kwabena attended the University of Ghana and is now in a PhD program at the University of Florida. He carried out his PBI internship research as a part of the NASA Advanced Life Support (ALS) Program at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. His graduate studies thesis title is Microchip laser as a source of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy: plasma characteristics and analytic performance.
William Clarkson PBI Sponsor - Dr. Andrew Pohorille, NASA Ames Research Center. Using the Protein Data Bank to Examine Protein Bonding Using Atomic Vibrations as an Entropy Probe Will Clarkson went to the NASA Ames Research Center for his PBI internship to find if any entropic effect is observable when proteins bond. He did this by looking for evidence of interaction in the atomic vibrations of every atom in each of about ten thousand proteins.
Luis Delaye PBI Sponsor - Peter Gogarten, University of Connecticut Study of the Evolution of GluRS and GlnRS Families and Their Co-Evolution With Their Substrates tRNA (Gln) and tRNA (Glu) (The Case of Deinococcus radiodurans) Luis is from Mexico and worked at the University of Connecticut for his PBI internship. In his research he analyzed the genes of glutamyl-tRNA synthetase and glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase (both of which participate in DNA translation) of the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans, in order to determine if the phenomenon of horizontal gene transfer has played a role in the evolution of one part of the genetic apparatus. Luis is currently doing graduate studies at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City. The title of his thesis is Early evolution of the most conserved genes in the three cellular lineages. Luis has also written or contributed to several papers during and since his internship including the following: Luis Delaye, Arturo Becerra, and Antonio Lazcano, The nature of the last common ancestor (in Ribas de pouplana, L. ed., The Genetic Code and the Origin of Life. Landes Bioscience, Georgetown.), and Sara Islas, Ana Ma. Velasco, Arturo Becerra, Luis Delaye and Antonio Lazcano, Hyperthermophily and the origin and earliest evolution of life. (International Microbiology - in press)
John Finarelli PBI Sponsor - Dr. Gustaf Arrhenius, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Carbon Phase Abundance in the Isua Supracrustal Belt, Early Archean (~3.7-3.8 Ga), Western Greenland: Implications for Early Life on Earth. John is originally from Washington, D.C., and at the time of his internship he was pursuing an MS at the University of New Hampshire. During his internship, he conducted research on carbon phase abundance in the 3.7-3.8 billion year old Isua Supracrustal Belt found in Western Greenland. His work was recently published: van Zuilen, MA, Lepland, A, Teranes, J. Finarelli, JA, Wahlen, M, Arrhenius, G. (2003) Graphite and associating carbonates in early Archean Isua supracrustal rocks, southern West Greenland. Precambrian Geology 126:331-348. John competed his MS in 2001. The title of his thesis was A phylogenetic reassessment of the hominoidea (mammalian, primates) incorporating morphologic and temporal data. He is currently at the University of Chicago where he is working on the phylogeny and rates of molecular evolution in the Carnivora (Mammalia).
David Lamb PBI Sponsor - Dr. Sherry Cady, Portland State University. Recognizing the Signatures of Hyperthermophilic Biofilms: Geyserites, Epithermal Deposits and Ancient Cherts. David is originally from Illinois, USA and has done graduate studies at the University of N. Dakota (Masters, 2000). His PBI work involved recognizing the signatures of hyperthermophilic biofilms: geyserites, epithermal deposits and ancient cherts. He is currently in a Ph.D. program at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The topic he is examining concerns the evolution of the earliest eukaryotes in the fossil record.
Jennifer Lawson PBI Sponsor - Dr. David Des Marais, NASA Ames Research Center Carbon and Nitrogen Biogeochemistry of Microbial Mats in Taylor Valley, Antarctica Jennifer is from Pennsylvania and worked at the NASA Ames Research Center for her PBI internship. Her research was in Antarctica and concerned life and biogeochemical cycles in extreme environments, studies that are most pertinent to the NASA exobiology program. She is currently working on her PhD at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Her thesis is titled Lacustrine Biogeochemical Processes in the McMurdo Dry Valley, Antarctica.	No photo available
Lourdes Lloret Sanchez PBI Sponsor - Dr. Lynn Rothschild, NASA Ames Research Center Prokaryotic Microbial Biodiversity in Extreme Conditions Lourdes carried out her PBI internship at the NASA Ames Research Center where she studied halophiles - prokaryotes that thrive in high concentrations of salt. She is from Mexico City and is currently doing graduate work in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. Her thesis is titled Transcriptional analysis of the algDA operon in Azotobacter vinelandii. She is also working on the molecular phylogenetics of the genus Sinorhizobium for her PhD. Her most recent publication is on molecular systematics and the proposal of a new species of Sinorhizobium: Toledo, I., L. Lloret, and E. Martinez-Romero. 2003. Sinorhizobium mexA1 sp. nov., a new Sinorhizobium species nodulating Acacia spp. in Mexico. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 26, 54-64.
Jill Mikucki PBI Sponsor - Dr. John Priscu, Montana State University. Nitrogen Biogeography of Ice-Bound Microbial Assemblages Jill, originally from New Jersey, completed her masters in biology at Portland State University in Oregon. Following graduation she began work on cold environment microbiology. Her PBI research concerned the cycling of nitrogen in ice core samples taken from the McMurdo dry valleys of Antarctica. A publication stemming from her PBI research is Priscu, J.C., E.E. Adams, H.W. Paerl, C.H. Fritsen, J.E. Dore, J.T. Lisle, C.F. Wolf and J.A. Mikucki. 2005. Perennial Antarctic Lake Ice: A refuge for Cyanobacteria in an Extreme Environment. Life in Ancient Ice. S.Rogers and J. Castello (eds). Princeton Press. In press. Jill is currently two years into her PhD studies in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University. In the fall of 2003 she began her third field season in McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica where she is now looking at genetic and metabolic diversity of ice-bound microbial assemblages in glaciers and lake ice. Her thesis title is Life in Ice: a Survey of Microbial Diversity within Frozen Environments. Biogeochemistry of Ice Bound Microbial Assemblages.
Vicki O'Donnell PBI Sponsor - C. Ross Hinkle, NASA Kennedy Space Center Sand and Vegetation Impact Assessment Originally from Ireland, Vicki was completing a HDip in GIS and remote sensing at the time of her internship. She completed this with a first class honor. Her PBI research was done at the NASA Kennedy Space Center and involved assessing the impact of recreation, in relation to accretion and erosion, on a stretch of non-residential coastal sand dune system at the Canaveral National Sea Shore. She is currently a researcher at the Coastal and Marine Resources Centre, University College Cork, Haulbowline Naval Base, in County Cork, Ireland.
Thomas Richards PBI Sponsor - Sandra Nierzwicki-Bauer, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute The Presence of Group I Self-splicing Introns in Sub-surface Microorganisms Thomas conducted his PBI research at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. For his project, he sampled, cultured, and extracted DNA from a range of sub-surface isolate microorganisms from varying depths. To identify the particular species of each isolate and their evolutionary relationship, 16S RNA genes were sequenced. His work has been an attempt to better understand the origin of ribozymes (RNA enzymes), to test the viability of the RNA world hypothesis, and to determine the nature of sub-surface niches – something very useful for seeking life on other planets. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. in Britain, a joint Ph.D. between Oxford University Zoology and the Natural History Museum London where he is working on lateral gene transfer and the evolution of microbial eukaryotes with Tom Cavalier-Smith and Martin Embley.

Jessie Gunnard PBI Sponsor - Dr. Kenneth Nealson and Dr. Henry Sun, Center for Life Detection. Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA Boring Algae: Experiments in Mineral Preference and Bore Architecture Jessie received a M.S. in Geography from the University of Massachusetts in August 2003. She has produced two, presently unpublished, research papers related to her PBI internship. The first concerns Sulfate-reducing bacteria as agents of calcium carbonate precipitation, and the interplay of metabolism, mineral formation and carbon flux. The second investigates sulfate-reducing bacteria and calcium carbonate precipitation, and considers carbon flux and d13C values of DIC, DOC, organic solids and calcite. Jessie's PBI project focused on members of the red algae genus Porphyra, some of which bore into mollusk shells and other calcium carbonate substrates.
Ryan Hunter PBI Sponsor - Dr. Ken Nealson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Microbial Communities in the Hypersaline Environment of Deep Springs Lake, Big Pine, California Ryan is working on his doctorate at the University of Guelph in Canada, his country of origin. His thesis is entitled The Influence of Microbial Biofilm Microenvironments on Metal-Microbe Interactions. Ryan explains: “A remarkable feature of microbial biofilms is the formation of pH and redox (E_h) gradients within them forming so-called microenvironments. Since pH and E_hchanges influence the state and availability of metals, internal gradients can alter the degree of metal accumulation and mineralization. Since iron precipitates have been suggested as a potential biomarker for microbial activity on Mars, it3 is important to understand how these biofilm microenvironments influence geochemical processes in the natural environment. I am currently using multi-technique approach (confocal microscopy, microelectrodes, cryo-transmission electron microscopy) to investigate the interactions of iron and other trace elements with microbial biofilms.” Ryan studied bacterial communities in the Deep Springs Lake that are associated with evaporite minerals, especially thenardite, a non-marine evaporite sulfate mineral.
Irina Kovalyova PBI Sponsor - John Stolz, Duquense University. Initial Characterization of Dissimilatory Arsenate Reductase from Haloalkaliphile Bacterium Bacillus selenitireducens Irina is from Belarus and has done graduate studies in the United States and Canada. She is currently in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada. Her Ph.D. thesis is entitled The genome, transcriptome, and preliminary proteome of Pseudomonas putida bacteriophage gh-1: a new member of the T7 family of bacterial viruses. Comutational analyses of genomes of various bacteriophages and their hosts. Irina characterized a dissimilatory arsenate reductase (DAsR) of Bacillus selenitireducens, isolated from Mono Lake, CA during her work with the PBI.	No photo available
Phyllis Lam PBI Sponsor - Dr. Mitchell Sogin and Dr. Andreas Teske, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Molecular Survey of Autotrophic Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria from the Hydrothermal Sediments of Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California Phyllis has been investigating the potential for life in the vast, low-temperature (<100°C) reservoir of fluids within mid-ocean ridgeflank and ocean basin crust. Her PhD Dissertation title is: "Microbial Ammonium Oxidation in Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Environments" - to be completed in Summer 2004. Her PBI work has been included in her dissertation and it will be published in one of the subsequent papers in preparation. Her results have been presented in the 2002 International Symposium on Subsurface Microbiology (Copenhagen, Sept 2002), and at the Ocean Research Conference (Honolulu, Feb 2004). A paper she has contributed is "Fluids from Aging Ocean Crust That Support Microbial Life," James P. Cowen, Stephen J. Giovannoni, Fabien Kenig, H. Paul Johnson, David Butterfield, Michael S. Rappé, Michael Hutnak, and Phyllis Lam. Science 299: 120-123.
Vanessa Lancaster PBI Sponsor - Lynn Rothschild, MASA Ames Research Center. The Protective Roles of Antioxidant Enzymes in the Bacterial Mats of Yellowstone National Park Vanessa is from southern California and has done graduate studies at Arizona State University where she completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry in September 2003. The title of her dissertation was Studies of the Antioxidant Proteins of the Thermophilic Photosynthetic Bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus. Vanessa studied the response of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase to natural UV radiation in the bacterial mats of the hot springs at Yellowstone National Park. Her work focused on understanding the effects of irradiation with UV light on bacterial DNA damage and the production of reactive oxygen species.
Christophe Nöel PBI Sponsor - Dr. Mitchell L. Sogin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Massachustts Phylogeny of Parabasalids Inferred from Small Subunit rRNA Sequences Christophe is from France and did graduate studies at the Pasteur Institute. The title of his thesis is Cytosquelette, Morphogenèse et Phylogénie d'un groupe de protistes, les Parabasalia. (Cytoskeleton, Morphogenesis and Phylogeny of a group of Protists, the Parabasalia). Defended in December 2002. In 2002 he had a paper published based on his PBI work: Noel, C., Gerbod, D., Dolan, M. F., Edgcomb, V. P., Kitade, O., Noda, S., Dufernez, F., Ohkuma, M., Kudo, T., Sogin, M. L. and Viscogliosi, E. Molecular phylogeny of parabasalids inferred from small subunit rRNA sequences, with emphasis on the Devescovinidae and Calonymphidae (Trichomonadea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 25, 545-556, 2002.
Xavier Roig PBI Sponsor - Lynn Margulis, University of Massachusetts Bacterial Symbionts of Protists and Anti-a-Tubulin Antibody Binding in Two Termites Xavier is from Catalonia, Spain and continues his studies in that country. He has been a part of the program for Environmental Sciences under the direction of professor Ricardo Guerrero where he has worked with microbial mats of the Ebro Delta. A publication that stems from his PBI internship is Guerrero, R.; Berlanga, M.; Roig, X. Piqueras, M. 2003. Estudi de la microbiota aquàtica de la vall d'Alinyà. A: Germain, J. (ed.). El sistemes naturals de la vall d’Alinyà. Treb. Inst. Catalana Hist. Nat., 14.

Francisco Javier Chichon Garcia PBI Sponsor - Dr. Jonathan Trent, NASA Ames Research Center Microbiology of Extreme Environments: Isolation and Characterization of Halophilic Chaperons Javier is from Madrid, Spain and is completing his Ph.D. thesis at present. He did his PBI internship at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. His area of specialization is the microbiology of extreme environments and the isolation and characterization of halophillic chaperons. He has several articles online which may be viewed through the following link: http://www1.rincondelvago.com/apuntes_universidad/bioquimica/enzimologia/1/
David Fike PBI Sponsor - Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, NASA Ames Center Environmental Characteristics of the Highest Lake on Earth David is from New Jersey, USA and is currently working on his PhD in the Geology and Geochemistry program of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT. He is currently involved in two primary research areas: the examination of stromatolitic microbialites along the shorelines of Laguna Verde in the Bolivian altiplano and the molecular and isotopic stratigraphy of carbonate/evaporate deposits from southern Oman that contain the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary. David did his PBI research at the world's highest lake atop the Licancabur volcano on the border of Chile and Bolivia. This extreme environment is believed to have relevance to astrobiology. He analyzed water, sediment and microbial mat samples to better understand the microbial communities and physical properties of the materials.
Alejandro Guarin PBI Sponsor - Dr. Steven Wofsy, Harvard Forest, Massachusetts Biogeography and Forest Vegetation Dynamics Alejandro is from Colombia and has been doing graduate studies in the United States. In August of 2003 he completed his master’s degree in geography at Penn State University. The title of his thesis is The influence of climate and topography on forest dieback in mixed conifer forests, Yosemite National Park, California. He is now a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley and plans to work on nature-society relations.
Ruben Peco Navio PBI Sponsor - William Hagan, New York Center for Studies on the Origins of Life at the College of St. Rose Prebiotic Modeling of Selected Steps in the Krebs Cycle Ruben was born in Spain and is now doing graduate studies in Hamburg, Germany. His thesis is entitled Genomic engineering: homologous recombination in E. coli or recombineering and its usefulness on mouse reverse genetics. Ruben's PBI research focused on the question of whether there might have been chemical conversions in the Kreb's Cycle that could have served in the storage of solar energy. This work is related to the paleometabolism hypothesis.
Arie Rosenfeld PBI Sponsor - Dr. C. Ross Hinkle, Kennedy Space Center Feral Hogs Management in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Arie is an Israeli citizen and is doing graduate studies in his home country. His Ph.D. thesis is entitled The influence of cattle grazing on Mediterranean habitat – using small mammals as bioindicators. Arie performed an analysis of the current management program in Merritt Islan National Wildlife Refuge with regard to feral hog management. His study analyzed the current data on feral hogs on refuge grounds, estimated feral hog populations and gave recommendations for improving management programs.
Katarina Vaisanen PBI Sponsor - Dr. Jay Garland, Kennedy Space Center Physiological and Molecular Characterisation of Microbial Communities Associated with Different Soil Aggregate Size Classes Originally from Finland, Katarina is in England carrying out research for her Ph.D. entitled Contribution of fine root turnover to soil organic matter dynamics in improved grasslands. She is currently preparing a publication based on her work carried out during her PBI internship. Her research determined the influence of mineral nitrogen addition on the function and composition of the soil microbial communities associated with different aggregate size fractions. Using both community-level physiological and molecular profiling methods she showed that differences exist in both the microbial community composition and physiological response of the communities between different sized aggregate size classes.
Andrew Wier PBI Sponsor - Lynn Margulis, University of Massachusetts Investigations of the Bacterial Symbionts of the Hypermastigote, Staurojoenina Andrew will complete his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, after three summers of dives to the hot springs of Yellowstone Park's lakes. He has discovered new bacterial communities at these hot depths. He identified the cortical striations of Staurojoenina assimilis, a parabasalid from the Caribbean dry wood eating termite (Neotermes mona), are a gram negative bacterium related to Citrobacter (called Cuticobacterium kirbyi). This work is in press in his recent papers which include the following: Dolan, M., A.M. Wier, H. Melnitsky, J. Whiteside and L. Margulis. 2004. Cysts and symbionts of Staurojoenina from Neotermes. European Journal of Protistology 40: 257-264. Wier, A.M., M.F. Dolan, and L. Margulis. 2004. Cortical symbionts and Hydrogenosomes of the amitochondriate protest Staurojoenina assimilis. Symbiosis 36: 153-168.

Antonio Castrillo PBI sponsor – Dr. Hans Jurg Jost, NASA Ames Research Center Improving the sensitivity of carbon isotope measurements based on ICOS Antonio is from Italy and studied at the University of Naples. He is currently in the Environmental Science Department at the Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy. His graduate thesis is entitled Development and optimization of a new methodology for high-precision isotopic analysis based on laser spectroscopy suitable for field-operation. Antonio aided in the research aimed at implementing a new methodology to measure isotopic composition of the atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Rebecca Ludwig Sponsor – Prof. Paul Falkowski, Rutgers University Interactioin of nitrogen fixation and oxygenic photosynthesis in Trichodesmium Rebecca is from Germany where she has become interested in marine microbiology. She has studied microbial mats and the effect of salinity on photosynthesis, finding evidence that benthic photosynthesis is not directly limited by high salinity, but by a salinity induced increase of oxygen supersaturation. The title of her thesis is: Carbon cycling and calcification in hypersaline microbial mats, due to be completed in May 2004.
David Millette PBI sponsor: Prof. Lynn Margulis, University of Massachusetts Motility structures in eukaryotic origins Dave was born in Newton, MA and did graduate work at the University of Massachusetts. He is currently teaching biology and chemistry at Auburn High School in Auburn, Washington, where he brings to the classroom materials and discussions concerning the origins of life. His PBI work involved spirochete cultivation in the laboratory and their potential as candidates for the motility/mitosis component of proto-eukaryotes.
Garth Munz PBI Sponsor – Dr. Jay Garland, Dynamac Corporation, Kennedy Space Center Microbial analysis of Indoor air biofiltration units Garth is currently finishing up his M.S. at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada), where he is investigating the ability of various plant/ microbe systems to biofilter carbon monoxide within a sealed environment. Indoor air biofilters incorporate plants to foster microbial populations in the root zone which break down airborne contaminants. His PBI work involved characterizing the microbial populations that are active in toluene degradation in indoor air biofilters.
`Zorgito Namsaraev` `Sponser: Prof. Ken Nealson, University of Southern California.` `Anaerobranca californiensis sp. nov., an anaerobic, alkalithermophilic, fermentative bacterium isolated from a hot spring on Mono Lake` `Zorgito is from Russia and completed his graduate studies in that country. He received a Ph.D. degree in Microbiology in December 2003 that was` `awarded by the Scientific Council of the Institute of Microbiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). His thesis was Microbial communities` `of alkaline hydrotherms. The aim of his study was to compare microbial communities of alkaline freshwater hydrotherms of Baikal rift zone (Russia)` `and alkaline mineralized hydrotherms of Paoha island on Mono Lake (California, USA). The goals of the research were the following: to study the` `composition of microbial communities in different ecological zones of the springs, to study the rates of production and terminal destruction processes` `in microbial communities, to study the ecophysiology of thermophilic microorganisms participating in carbon, sulfur and iron cycles, to study the` `participation of microbial communities of alkaline hydrotherms in mineral formation.` `Based on his work as PBI intern, Zorgito published a paper at IJSEM. The` `link is http://ijs.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/54/3/739` `Vladimir Gorlenko, Alexandre Tsapin, Zorigto Namsaraev, Tracy Teal,` `Tatyana Tourova, Diane Engler, Randy Mielke, Kenneth Nealson. Anaerobranca californiensis sp. nov., an anaerobic, alkalithermophilic, fermentative` `bacterium isolated from a hot spring on Mono Lake / Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 54 (2004), 739-743; DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.02909-0`
Mary (Niki) Parenteau Sponsor: Dr. Linda Jahnke, NASA Ames Research Center Lipid biomarker analysis of phototropic mats in a high iron thermal spring Nikki is originally from Sandpoint, Idaho but did her graduate studies at the Department of Geology, Portland State Univeristy, Portland, Oregon. Her PhD dissertation title is Characterization of biosignature formation associated with the phototrophic mats of a high iron thermal spring. Her studies involve the role of bacteria in the formation of modern iron deposits. While some studies have addressed the mineralization of chemosynthetic bacteria, none have focused on photosynthetic bacteria. Her study will provide a systematic description of the formation of biosignatures and iron mineral diagenesis in a modern high-iron terrestrial thermal spring system. This biosignature database will establish a means to assess the microbial contribution to ancient iron deposits on Earth (e.g., Banded Iron Formations) and, potentially, to those found on Mars. Nikki’s PBI topic involved lipid biomarkers and compound specific stable carbon isotope analyses of cyanobacterial and filamentous anoxygenic phototrophic mats in a high iron thermal spring, which contribute a significant chapter to her disseration. Two manuscripts are in preparation from the work performed during the PBI and during subsequent trips. The first will include a description of all biosignatures categories described to date. The second will include the compound specific stable carbon isotope analyses of the Synechococcus/Chloroflexus mat.
Rachel Schelble Understanding the formation mechanisms of rock varnish: a comparative study Rachel is originally from New Mexico and is currently in her 3^rd year as a Ph.D. Candidate at University of Southern California. She was a pre-doctoral fellow at Carnegie Institution of Washington. Her present research, and the focus of her dissertation, is to investigate the role of microbial life in the formation of ancient metal deposits on the Earth. This work concentrates on characterizing biological signatures remnant in the 2.0 Ga Kalahari Manganese Field of South Africa, the largest manganese deposit in the world. The experimental degradation of morphological and biochemical signatures of modern microorganisms using manganese and silica solutions is also to be conducted in order to understand the potential for identifying the past presence of microorganisms associated with ancient metal deposits in the geological record. Publications resulting from her PBI internship are: Schelble, R.T., McDonald, G.D., Hall, J.A., Nealson, K.H. (2004) Comparison of Microbial Community Structure and Biomass in Desert Varnish and Soil, Mojave Desert, California, submitted to Geomicrobiology Journal. Schelble, R.T., McDonald, G.D., Nealson, K.H. (2003) Comparison of Mojave Desert Varnish and Soil Using Fatty Acid Analysis. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, abstract #61-13.
Mila Zaballos PBI sponsor – Prof. John Stolz, Duquesne University Europa, Mars and Mono Lake: arsenate reduction and the evolution of anaerobic respiration Milagros was born in Alicante, Spain and earned her Bachelor's degree in Biology at the University of Alicante. She is a Ph.D. student at the same university (and also Miguel Hernandez University) and is working in marine microbiology. Her thesis involves a survey on the populations of marine bacteria at different depths in a temperate sea, the Ionian Sea (Mediterranean), where temperature varies between 15 and 13 ºC through the water column. She is also studying the polar water of the Greenland Sea, where the temperature is much lower and of higher contrast between depths (4ºC at surface and -1ºC in deep waters). Due to these different environmental conditions, the populations of the domain Bacteria that she is studying appear to differ in significant ways depending on the place of sampling. Mila produced large quantities of the protein, respiratory arsenate reductase, from Bacillius selenitireducens, an aresenate-respiring bacterium isolated from Mono Lake, CA. She tested its functionality and the purity usining Ni-chromatography. Theses investigations add to the knowledge of the respiratory pathway that uses arsenate as the terminal electron acceptor.
2004