John Magyar is a Research Scientist in Geobiology in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. At Caltech, he works with Victoria Orphan on a variety of projects related to microbial extracellular electron transfer, anaerobic methane oxidation and sulfate oxidation in marine ecosystems, and the roles of viruses in global biogeochemical cycling. He also works with Woody Fischer on projects related to biological manganese oxidation and the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. Before joining the scientific staff at Caltech, John was on the faculty at Barnard College, Columbia University, where his group studied molecular mechanisms of cold adaptation, with a particular emphasis on hydrocarbon-rich, cold marine environments. He received his A.B. from Dartmouth College, where his undergraduate research explored molecular interactions between nitric oxide and cobalamins (vitamin B12 and related species). He also spent a summer as an REU student at the College of Marine Studies at the University of Delaware, where he worked with Jonathan Sharp studying carbon and nitrogen cycling in marine phytoplankton using stable isotopes. He earned a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Northwestern University; his thesis work with Prof. Hilary Arnold Godwin provided important insights into the molecular mechanisms of lead(II) poisoning. He then worked with Prof. Harry Gray at Caltech as a postdoctoral scholar in chemistry, studying electron-transfer kinetics and protein dynamics in cytochrome c. His love of marine science dates to his youth growing up in Rhode Island (the Ocean State), including research cruises in high school on URI’s coastal research vessel RV Laurie Lee and in college on the RV Cape Henlopen.
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