Thriving in scarcity: Examining fungi’s role in carbon cycling in the oligotrophic subsurface of the South Atlantic Transect
Abstract
The marine deep subsurface hosts a large quantity of life capable of unique metabolisms and survival mechanisms. The deep subsurface sediments collected from the South Atlantic Transect during IODP Expeditions 390/393 provide a unique opportunity to explore the microbial community structure and the functional involvement in biogeochemical cycling from five sites along an age transect, as well as an organic carbon gradient beneath the oligotrophic waters of the South Atlantic Gyre. The objectives of this expedition were to investigate microbial community variation with substrate composition, age, and energy availability. This project addresses these goals while aiming to elucidate the function of prokaryotes and eukaryotes within the microbial community.
Biography
My academic career began through the pursuit of my BS in Microbiology at Michigan State University, which I completed in 2018. During this time, I was researching microorganisms surviving in extremely high pH fluids in terrestrial serpentinizing systems. After completing my BS in Microbiology, I went on to complete my MS in Marine Biology at Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi in 2020, where my research focused on nitrogen cycling in restored and natural wetlands influenced by wastewater treatment plants. I am now merging my interests of microbial life in extreme environments and biogeochemical cycling by pursuing a PhD in Marine Sciences under the advisement of Dr. Brandi Kiel Reese at the University of South Alabama and Dauphin Island Sea Lab. I am studying microbial communities in extreme environments and how they participate in biogeochemical cycling. I am excited to use the Schlanger Fellowship to study the microbial structure and function within the deeply buried sediments below the South Atlantic Gyre and elucidate the roles of fungal community members in carbon cycling in the energy and nutrient limited sediments uncovered during the IODP Expeditions 390 and 393 along a South Atlantic Transect.
