February 28, 2022
The Winter Grab is a first of its kind, week-long collection event for regional researchers studying Great Lakes’ winter conditions. There is a particular interest in studying microbes living beneath the ice of Lake Michigan’s largest bay.
María Hernández, a University of Chicago graduate student, said, “We always used to think that during the winter (the ecosystem) was dormant. But now there’s a lot of hypotheses, and a lot of the sciences in working groups are developing that actually the ice is a nice environment for the microbes.”
Maureen Coleman, associate professor of geosciences at the University of Chicago, began the first long-term study of Great Lakes microorganisms in 2012, leading to the discovery of hundreds of new species. Her lab will analyze samples from the Great Lakes sites to get a better picture of what the minuscule sentinels are up to.
Michael Henson, a postdoctoral scholar studying aquatic microbiology in the University of Chicago’s Department of Geophysical Sciences, and Hanna Renedo, a research assistant focusing on visual science communication also participated in the event.
Microbe and chill while sampling some articles right here and right here.
February 23, 2022
NASA has selected University of Chicago associate professor of geophysical sciences, Edwin Kite, to join the Mars Curiosity rover mission as a participating scientist. Kite, along with fourth-year Ph.D. student Sasha Warren, hopes to expand the rover science team’s understanding of climate history on Mars.
Kite and Warren will use their time gathering evidence of fractures, veins, and deformation features to distinguish between proposed explanations for water flow paths above and under the ground surface at the mound in the middle of Gale Crater that Curiosity is exploring.
This news is anything but dry! Check it!
February 09, 2022
Cindy (Xi) Chen successfully defended her Ph.D thesis on January 10th titled “Tracing planetary differentiation processes using Zr and Hf isotopic variations”. Cindy’s committee was Nicolas Dauphas, Andrew Campbell, Andrew Davis, and Jacob Waldbauer.
What’s next for Dr. Chen? She will start a position as a research scientist in an analytical lab working for the pharmaceutical industry in North Carolina. Congrats again!