Matthew O. Schrenk

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Matthew Schrenk is an associate professor in geomicrobiology at Michigan State University. His research focuses on the diversity, distribution, and activities of microorganisms in the deep subsurface biosphere. [1] His work couples molecular biological approaches and geochemical analyses to investigate microbial ecosystems. Schrenk investigates high pH environments fueled by underground serpentinization reactions between water and certain rock types [2] and hydrothermal vent systems along the ocean floor that are driven by volcanic activity. [3]

Schrenk earned his master's degree in 2001 and PhD in 2005 from the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington. He completed his postdoctoral research in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism and the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution of Washington from 2005 to 2008 before becoming an assistant professor at Michigan State University. [4] In 2012, he was awarded a $50,000 Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a prestigious two-year award given to honor ocean sciences researchers. [5] Schrenk serves on the Deep Life Scientific Steering Committee for the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO). [6]

Further reading

MSU researchers make new discoveries in the underwater world of ‘Lost City'

The 19 superbugs that rule Earth’s hidden depths

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost City Hydrothermal Field</span> Hydrothermal field in the mid-Atlantic Ocean

The Lost City Hydrothermal Field, often referred to simply as Lost City, is an area of marine alkaline hydrothermal vents located on the Atlantis Massif at the intersection between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Atlantis Transform Fault, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a long-lived site of active and inactive ultramafic-hosted serpentinization, abiotically producing many simple molecules such as methane and hydrogen which are fundamental to microbial life. As such it has generated scientific interest as a prime location for investigating the origin of life on Earth and other planets similar to it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gammaproteobacteria</span> Class of bacteria

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Colwell</span>

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Erik Harold Hauri was an American geochemist at the Carnegie Institution for Science. He researched the movement of matter inside planets and how volatile compounds such as water originated on Earth and other planetary bodies, and their effects on volcanic systems.

Isabelle Daniel is a mineralogist at the Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 in Lyon, France. She studies minerals under extreme conditions, such as those that exist in Earth's mantle, as well as biosignatures of early life.

The deep biosphere is the part of the biosphere that resides below the first few meters of the surface. It extends down at least 5 kilometers below the continental surface and 10.5 kilometers below the sea surface, at temperatures that may reach beyond 120 °C (248 °F) which is comparable to the maximum temperature where a metabolically active organism has been found. It includes all three domains of life and the genetic diversity rivals that on the surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Von Damm Vent Field</span> Hydrothermal area in the Caribbean Sea.

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References

  1. "Welcome | Matt Schrenk Geomicrobiology Lab". www.schrenklab.com. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  2. Schrenk, Matthew (2013). "Serpentinization, Carbon, and Deep Life" (PDF). Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry.
  3. Schrenk, Matthew O.; Kelley, Deborah S.; Bolton, Sheryl A.; Baross, John A. (2004-10-01). "Low archaeal diversity linked to subseafloor geochemical processes at the Lost City Hydrothermal Field, Mid-Atlantic Ridge". Environmental Microbiology. 6 (10): 1086–1095. doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2004.00650.x. ISSN   1462-2920. PMID   15344934.
  4. "Lab Members | Matt Schrenk Geomicrobiology Lab". www.schrenklab.com. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  5. "Matt Schrenk Awarded Sloan Research Fellowship | Deep Carbon Observatory Portal". deepcarbon.net. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  6. "DCO Scientific Steering Committees | Deep Carbon Observatory Portal". deepcarbon.net. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2017-07-19.