Where are you from, and what is your role in Extreme 2004?

I am a second-year Ph.D. student working for Prof. Hugh Morgan and Dr. Ron Ronimus at the Thermophile Research Unit situated at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. I will be using culturing methods to try to isolate and characterize the pioneer microorganisms that colonize nascent chimneys.

What questions are you trying to answer and why?

DNA-based studies have shown that very recently discovered types of microorganisms (nanoarchaea) are involved in the initial colonization of developing hydrothermal vent chimneys. Nanoarchaea are nano-sized symbionts that grow attached to the surface of other microbes. I will be applying culture-based techniques to samples taken from nascent chimneys in an attempt to isolate, identify, and characterize the microbes that may harbor nanoarchaea, with the ultimate goal of obtaining a consortium containing nanoarchaea. Cultures containing microorganisms obtained from young developing chimneys could be studied and may help answer questions into why and how the chimneys become inhabited by microorganisms.

What is your background, and what lured you into marine science/education?

My Ph.D. topic in fact involves the investigation into the microbial ecology of terrestrial hydrothermal environments in New Zealand. However, the techniques I use can be applied to other environments such as hydrothermal vents.