bif cells
Exploring life and Earth systems through deep time
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Rosemary at the bench
About Us

We are a collaborative group of scientists with specializations in sedimentary geology, geochemistry, and geomicrobiology. Our overarching goal is to explore the evolution of the Bacteria and Archaea, historically and biogeochemically the most important domains of life on Earth, and ultimately to understand better the biological and environmental forces that drive evolution of Earth surface systems generally. Our approach to this goal has two major thrusts.

  1. We conduct basic research designed to identify specific microbial processes that produce geological biosignatures, and we apply these biosignatures to study the history of microbial communities during times of biological and/or environmental change.
  2. We develop new techniques to identify and quantify depositional processes and stratigraphic relationships in sedimentary systems, and we apply these techniques to the study of paleobiologically significant units.
Our methods are a rigorous combination of sedimentological fieldwork, geochemistry, and experimental microbiology. In addition to traditional mapping, field analysis, and optical petrography, we use cutting-edge techniques such as x-ray fluorescence and Raman microanalysis to examine spatial variability in rocks and sediments. We also construct microcosms for microbiological experiments isolating specific molecular processes involved in production of geological signals.

Our work has applications in many different fields, including astrobiology, evolutionary biology, sedimentology, and petroleum geology. If you are considering graduate work in any of these topics, please explore this site or contact Mike Tice about joining the lab.