TITLE: Research Associate – Viral Library Construction
ACADEMIC INSTITUTION: The J. Craig Venter Institute

What is your role in Extreme 2008?
My role in Extreme 2008 is as a part of the scientific personnel aiding in the sample collection of microbes and viruses from the diffuse-flow vents on the ocean floor.  My responsibilities include sample collection, maintaining the sampling equipment while on the Atlantis, conducting bacterial induction experiments, and doing preliminary nucleic acid extractions to determine predicted DNA yields from the microbes that are collected.

What questions are you trying to answer and why?
There are three main hypotheses we will test using data collected from the Extreme 2008 cruise.  The first is that dsDNA viruses within diffuse-flow environments exhibit high levels of diversity, endemism, and genetic specialization as compared to other marine ecosystems.  Secondly, we hope to determine if the patterns of host preference differs between the total virioplankton assemblage and the subset of temperate viruses within diffuse flow environments.  Finally, we hope to determine if species composition (richness and evenness) of temperate phage reflect that of host populations while the composition of free viral communities do not.

Why is this research important? What are the benefits?
Our group is focused on how viruses affect the host communities they infect.  The data we collect will potentially allow us to identify novel viral genes of significance in the deep-sea vent ecosystem.  We are also interested in determining the identities and diversity of viruses in these communities.  With these data sets, it will allow us to better understand the viral communities, how they differ from other less extreme environments, and how they can potentially affect the microbial communities they infect.  

What's your background, and what lured you into marine science/education?
I knew from an early age that I would have a career in the biological sciences.  My ninth-grade teacher got me excited about the subject and I have yet to look back.  I attended Juniata College in central Pennsylvania and in 2002 received my bachelor's degree in molecular biology.  I was hired by the J. Craig Venter Institute shortly after graduation.  I received my master's degree in biotechnology specializing in biodefense from Johns Hopkins University in 2006.  Currently, I am a member of the Environmental Genomics Group at the J. Craig Venter Institute.