DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCES

Hi, I'm Matt! I work with Dr. Maggie Osburn to study how cave microbes obtain energy and grow. To do this, I combine metagenomics and lipid analysis to study the organic biosignatures that cave microbial communities produce. Not only can these "molecular fingerprints" reveal which types of microbes are present in caves, their stable isotopes can also tell us about how microbes cycle carbon and nitrogen in these shallow subsurface environments. In addition to helping us understand our own planet's biogeochemistry, learning how microbes live in these dark and nutrient-deprived habitats can inform our search for life below the surface of other planets, like Mars!