Liane G. Benning

Last updated
Liane G. Benning
Alma mater University of Kiel
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Awards Royal Society Wolfson Award (2009)
Bigsby Medal (2016)
Schlumberger Medal (2016)
Scientific career
Institutions
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Pennsylvania State University
University of Leeds
German Research Centre for Gerosciences, GFZ
Free University of Berlin

Liane G. Benning is a biogeochemist studying mineral-fluid-microbe interface processes. She is a Professor of Interface Geochemistry at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany. Her team studies various processes that shape the Earth Surface with a special focus on two aspects: the nucleation, growth and crystallisation of mineral phases from solution and the role, effects and interplay between microbes and minerals in extreme environments. She is also interested in the characterisation of these systems, developing in situ and time resolved high resolution imaging and spectroscopic techniques to follow microbe-mineral reactions as they occur.

Contents

Education

She studied geology and petrology at the University of Kiel, completing her Vordiplom (~ BSc) in 1987. [1] She moved to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich for her graduate studies, earning a Diplom (~ MSc) in Petrology / Geochemistry in 1990 and a PhD in aqueous geochemistry in 1995. [2] Her PhD, supervised by Terry Seward, was in experimental aqueous geochemistry with a focus on the solubility of gold in aqueous sulfide solutions. She joined Hu Barnes at Pennsylvania State University as a postdoctoral researcher in 1996, holding a Swiss National Science Foundation international fellowship. [2] [3]

Research and career

She moved to the University of Leeds as a University Research Fellow in 1999. [3] During her tenure at Leeds, she carried out low to hydrothermal geochemical and biogeochemical studies, with a special focus on laboratory experimental research. She always also did field studies with a special focus on elucidating how life adapts to extremely hot or cold environments. [4] She designed, tested and deployed instrumentation that will look for life in these environments, like on the surface of Mars. [5] She analysed the microbes found within samples collected in the arctic, extracting their genetic information. [4] She became a Professor in Leeds in 2007 and has since investigated a number of fundamental environmental challenges. [2] In 2009 she won a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. She has been involved with the development of synchrotron techniques, establishing the mechanisms of mineral interactions in situ. [6] [7] [8] She and her team worked on the nucleation of iron sulphides, which regulate and control geochemical iron and sulphur in the environment. [9] [10] In 2014 Liane G. Benning was appointed Head of Interface Geochemistry at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences [11] and became a professor at the Free University of Berlin in April 2016. [12] [13] [14] At the GFZ she leads the Potsdam Imaging and Spectral Analysis Facility (PISA). [15] In 2016 she was awarded the Mineralogical Society Schlumberger Medal and the Geological Society Bigsby Medal.

She and her team have studied the Greenland ice sheet, investigating how the albedo varies due to interactions of microbes and particulates. [16] [17] She is one of the PI's on a large Natural Environment Research Council project that aims to understand how dark (black) particles and microbial processes (bloom) impact ice sheet melting. [18] [19] [20] Whilst it was assumed that the low albedo on glaciers, which is typically attributed to soot or dust, is actually due to microbial populations, [21] the Black and Bloom team identified that the darkest areas on the surfaces of the ice sheet are home to the highest number of microorganisms. [16] [22] [23] Furthermore, Benning looks to investigate the growth and spread of microorganisms in a warming climate. [16] She has studied the succession of microbes from ice to vegetated soils. [24] Her research combines geochemical, mineralogical and molecular microbiological analysis and produces data that is than used in computational models, allowing researches to model the growth of microbial populations in response to soil temperature and sunlight. [25]

In 2017 she was elected to the European Academy of Sciences, Academia Europaea, and in 2018 to the German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina. She serves on the editorial board of the European Association of Geochemistry journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters. [26] She has collaborated on projects with the NASA Astrobiology Institute. [27]

Awards and honours

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geomicrobiology</span> Intersection of microbiology and geology

Geomicrobiology is the scientific field at the intersection of geology and microbiology and is a major subfield of geobiology. It concerns the role of microbes on geological and geochemical processes and effects of minerals and metals to microbial growth, activity and survival. Such interactions occur in the geosphere, the atmosphere and the hydrosphere. Geomicrobiology studies microorganisms that are driving the Earth's biogeochemical cycles, mediating mineral precipitation and dissolution, and sorbing and concentrating metals. The applications include for example bioremediation, mining, climate change mitigation and public drinking water supplies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geobiology</span> Study of interactions between Earth and the biosphere

Geobiology is a field of scientific research that explores the interactions between the physical Earth and the biosphere. It is a relatively young field, and its borders are fluid. There is considerable overlap with the fields of ecology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, paleontology, and particularly soil science and biogeochemistry. Geobiology applies the principles and methods of biology, geology, and soil science to the study of the ancient history of the co-evolution of life and Earth as well as the role of life in the modern world. Geobiologic studies tend to be focused on microorganisms, and on the role that life plays in altering the chemical and physical environment of the pedosphere, which exists at the intersection of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and/or cryosphere. It differs from biogeochemistry in that the focus is on processes and organisms over space and time rather than on global chemical cycles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subglacial lake</span> Lake under a glacier

A subglacial lake is a lake that is found under a glacier, typically beneath an ice cap or ice sheet. Subglacial lakes form at the boundary between ice and the underlying bedrock, where pressure decreases the pressure melting point of ice. Over time, the overlying ice gradually melts at a rate of a few millimeters per year. Meltwater flows from regions of high to low hydraulic pressure under the ice and pools, creating a body of liquid water that can be isolated from the external environment for millions of years.

Ice algae are any of the various types of algal communities found in annual and multi-year sea, and terrestrial lake ice or glacier ice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snow algae</span> Group of alpine and polar freshwater algae

Snow algae are a group of freshwater micro-algae that grow in the alpine and polar regions of the Earth. Snow algae have been found on every continent but are restricted to areas with temperatures between 0°C-10°C. Snow algae are pigmented by chlorophyll and carotenoids and can be a variety of colors depending on the individual species, life stage, and topography/geography. The pigmentation of snow algae reduces snow and ice albedo, which can stimulate the melting of perennial snow and ice and exacerbate the effects of climate change. Snow algae are primary producers that form the basis of communities on snow or ice sheets that include microbes, tardigrades, and rotifers. Snow algae have also been carried great distances by winds.

The Centre for Polar Observation & Modelling (CPOM) is a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Centre of Excellence that studies processes in the Earth's polar environments. CPOM conducts research on sea ice, land ice, and ice sheets using satellite observations and numerical models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blood Falls</span> Red-colored seep of saltwater flowing from Taylor Glacier in Antarctica

Blood Falls is an outflow of an iron(III) oxide–tainted plume of saltwater, flowing from the tongue of Taylor Glacier onto the ice-covered surface of West Lake Bonney in the Taylor Valley of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Victoria Land, East Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trista Vick-Majors</span> American Antarctic biogeochemist and microbial ecologist

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Joanne S. "Jo" Johnson is a geologist and Antarctic scientist, who has worked for British Antarctic Survey (BAS) since 2002. She works in the palaeoenvironments, ice sheets and climate change team and is best known for her work on glacial retreat. She was awarded the Polar medal in 2023. The Johnson Mesa in James Ross Island, Antarctica is named in her honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jill Mikucki</span> American microbiologist, educator and Antarctic researcher

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Victoria J. Orphan is a geobiologist at the California Institute of Technology who studies the interactions between marine microorganisms and their environment. As of 2020, she is the Chair for the Center of Environmental Microbial Interactions.

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Aradhna Tripati is an American geoscientist, climate scientist, and advocate for diversity. She is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she is part of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and the California Nanosystems Institute. She is also the director of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science. Her research includes advancing new chemical tracers for the study of environmental processes and studying the history of climate change and Earth systems. She is recognized for her research on climate change and clumped isotope geochemistry. She studies the evolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and the impacts on temperature, the water cycle, glaciers and ice sheets, and ocean acidity.

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References

  1. ↑ "Staff". www.gfz-potsdam.de. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  2. 1 2 3 "CV". homepages.see.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  3. 1 2 3 "Academy of Europe: Benning Liane". www.ae-info.org. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  4. 1 2 "Liane G. Benning | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  5. ↑ "Headingley Cafe Scientifique: Life in extreme environments on earth, and the possibility of life on Mars – North Leeds Life" . Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  6. 1 2 "The Geological Society of London - 2016 Awards: Citations and Replies". www.geolsoc.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  7. ↑ "User Working Group - Beamlines - Diamond Light Source". www.diamond.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  8. ↑ "I05 - Diamond Light Source". www.diamond.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  9. ↑ "Nucleation and growth of iron sulfides: linking theory and experiment". UKRI. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  10. ↑ "Audio Highlights - Science - Diamond Light Source". www.diamond.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  11. ↑ "Staff". www.gfz-potsdam.de. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  12. ↑ "Liane Benning". www.geo.fu-berlin.de. 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  13. ↑ "From our circle of friends: Newly appointed Prof. Dr. Liane G. Benning". Vimeo. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  14. ↑ "Members & Affiliates - People - NEXUS: Earth Surface Dynamics - Universität Potsdam". www.uni-potsdam.de. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  15. ↑ "Potsdam Imaging and Spectral Analysis (PISA) Facility". www.gfz-potsdam.de. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  16. 1 2 3 "BLACK and BLOOM: variations in the albedo of the Greenland Ice Sheet as a result of interactions between microbes and particulates". UKRI. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  17. ↑ Lutz, Stefanie; McCutcheon, Jenine; McQuaid, James B.; Benning, Liane G. (2018-03-16). "The diversity of ice algal communities on the Greenland Ice Sheet as revealed by oligotyping". Microbial Genomics. 4 (3). doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000159 . ISSN   2057-5858. PMC   5885011 . PMID   29547098.
  18. ↑ Environment. "Professor Liane G. Benning | School of Earth and Environment | University of Leeds". environment.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  19. ↑ Scattergood, Karen. "BLACK and BLOOM". environment.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  20. ↑ "Black and Bloom". Black and Bloom. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  21. ↑ Bristol, University of. "June: Microbial garden | News | University of Bristol". www.bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  22. ↑ Lutz, Stefanie; Anesio, Alexandre M.; Villar, Susana E. Jorge; Benning, Liane G. (2014). "Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier" (PDF). FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 89 (2): 402–414. Bibcode:2014FEMME..89..402L. doi:10.1111/1574-6941.12351. ISSN   1574-6941. PMID   24920320.
  23. ↑ Benning, Liane G.; Nathan A. M. Chrismas; Lutz, Stefanie; Anesio, Alexandre M. (2017-04-19). "The microbiome of glaciers and ice sheets". npj Biofilms and Microbiomes. 3 (1): 10. doi:10.1038/s41522-017-0019-0. ISSN   2055-5008. PMC   5460203 . PMID   28649411.
  24. ↑ "Microbial succession and metabolic pathways from ice to vegetated soils in response to glacial retreat". UKRI. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  25. ↑ Bristol, University of. "October: arctic ice | News | University of Bristol". www.bris.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  26. ↑ "Geochemical Perspectives Letters". www.geochemicalperspectivesletters.org. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  27. ↑ "| NASA Astrobiology Institute". nai.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  28. ↑ Nash, Louise (19 June 2018). "Professor Liane G. Benning". www.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  29. 1 2 "EAG President Liane G. Benning says good-bye". blog.eag.eu.com. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  30. ↑ "Personalia| Liane G. Benning has received the Schlumberger Award 2016". www.gfz-potsdam.de. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  31. ↑ "Personalia | Liane G. Benning was elected as member of Leopoldina". www.gfz-potsdam.de. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
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