Valerie Y. De Anda Torres is a National Geographic Explorer and Senior Scientist in the Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Microbial Oceanography Unit, at the University of Vienna. She was previously an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida and a Research Scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on … Continued
Sylvia Nupp is a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry at Montana State University. She holds B.S. degrees in biology and chemistry from University of Arkansas. Sylvia’s research interests lie in using genetic, single-cell, and culturing techniques in order to study uncultured organisms in deep sea and hot spring sediments. She currently works on understanding methane cycling … Continued
Stavros is a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry at Montana State University. His research focuses on cultivation of anaerobic archaea with an emphasis on Asgard archaea. His interest extends further into physiological questions derived from metagenomics that can be tested at the single cell level either from enrichment cultures or directly from environmental samples. During his … Continued
Alyson Santoro is a microbial oceanographer and Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on microbes involved in nutrient cycling in the ocean, especially of the element nitrogen. She is interested in cultivating new microbes and discovering novel ways of tracking their activity. Her research combines laboratory experiments with field observations, … Continued
Dr. Nick Baetge is a postdoctoral fellow in the Departments of Botany and Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Oregon State University. He investigates how the quality of organic substrates shapes microbial community dynamics, particularly in the context of climate-driven changes like smoke deposition. By integrating biological, geochemical, genomic, and optical data from fieldwork, laboratory experiments, … Continued
Natalie Sarno is an Ecology, Evolution and Behavior PhD Candidate in Dr. Brett Baker’s Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a B.Sc. in Aquatic Biology from The University of California, Santa Barbara. After graduating, Natalie worked at next-generation sequencing biotechnology start-ups for two years. Today, Natalie is an aspiring aquatic microbiologist … Continued
Luke Chao is Associate Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Associate Investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Chao obtained his B.S./M.S. from Brandeis University and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His group seeks to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying membrane shape. The Chao Lab applies an interdisciplinary approach integrating structural … Continued
Lucía Frones is a Master’s student in Biological Sciences (PEDECIBA) in the Genética Evolutiva section of the Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), researcher at the Laboratorio de Mamíferos Marinos of the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Uruguay and professor at the Instituto de Ciencias Oceánicas, UdelaR. Her research has focused on the … Continued
Laura Eme is an evolutionary microbiologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Rhode Island, where she leads the Early Microbial Evolution Lab. She also holds a research appointment with CNRS/Université Paris-Saclay in France, working in the “Diversité, Écologie et Évolution des Microorganismes” team. Her research investigates … Continued
Juan Zanetti is a biochemist specializing in Integrated Coastal Zone Management. He is assistant professor at the University of the Republic of Uruguay (Coastal and Marine Interdisciplinary Department). His research interests are linked to the study and modeling of biogeochemical oceanic processes related to the carbon and oxygen cycles, based on metagenomic data from microbial … Continued
