Peter Girguis
Chief Scientist
Harvard University
Peter Girguis is currently a John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Natural Sciences at Harvard University, and an adjunct research engineer at MBARI. His research focuses the ecological physiology of microbes that live in extreme environments. He is particularily interested in the physiological and biochemical adaptations to life in anaerobic environments. His research lies at the intersection of biology and geochemistry, and he develops and uses a variety of tools (high-pressure systems, in situ mass spectrometers, in situ microbial fuel cells) to address the aforementioned issues. He received his B.Sc. from UCLA and his Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Barbara, where he worked with Dr. James Childress on the physiological and biochemical adaptations of deep sea hydrothermal vent tubeworms and their microbial symbionts to the vent environment. He did postdoctoral research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute with Dr. Edward Delong on the growth and population dynamics of anaerobic methanotrophs.
David Clague
Chief Scientist
MBARI
Dave's research interests are nearly all related to the formation and degradation of oceanic volcanoes, particularly Hawaiian volcanoes, mid-ocean ridges, and isolated seamounts. Topics of interest include: compositions of mantle sources for basaltic magmas and conditions of melting; volatile and rare-gas components in basaltic magmas and their degassing history; chronostratigraphic studies of eruption sequence and evolution of lava chemistry during volcano growth; subsidence of ocean volcanoes and its related crustal flexure, plate deformation, and magmatic activity; geologic setting of hydrothermal activity; origin of isolated seamounts; and monitoring of magmatic, tectonic, and hydrothermal activity at submarine and subaerial volcanoes.
Jenny Paduan
Senior Research Technician
MBARI
Jenny works with Dave Clague in the Submarine Volcanism project. On this expedition, Jenny will be in charge of the GIS work, including use of the recently acquired, high-resolution MBARI Mapping AUV data of our dive sites. She will also stand watches in the ROV control room, help with rock and sediment sample workup and curation once the vehicle is on deck, and coordinate these cruise logs for our group's two legs of the expedition. She is now quite solidly a marine geologist, but her degrees are in biochemistry (Smith College) and biological oceanography (Oregon State University). She is thankful for the opportunities that have led her to study volcanoes, and loves being involved with the research and going to sea. She looks forward to discovering more about how the Earth works.
Bill Ussler
Senior Research Specialist
MBARI
During expeditions, Bill Ussler is primarily responsible for the operation of the custom-built, portable chemistry lab van which contains a complete analytical laboratory for the analysis of the fluids and gases contained in marine sediments. Bill studies how methane (natural gas) forms and moves within seafloor sediments.
Scott Jensen
ESP Systems Lead Engineer
MBARI
Doug Pargett
Deep-water Operations Lead Engineer
MBARI
Chris Preston
Senior Research Technician
MBARI
Brent Roman
System Control Lead Engineer
MBARI
Brent has been playing with computers and control systems since the late 1970s. He wrote embedded control software for video tape editing while attending the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he earned a B.S. in Computer and Information Sciences in 1985. His main technical interests are computer operating systems, languages and feedback control systems. Brent wrote most of the custom software driving the current generation of the Environmental Sample Processor. He also enjoys sailing.
Brian Dreyer
Institute of Marine Sciences
UC Santa Cruz
Brian is an isotope geologist in the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz where he studies the recent magmagenesis and petrology of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. His interest in the petrology of mid-ocean ridges began during his postdoctoral fellowship with MBARI's Submarine Volcanism Group; there, he utilized uranium-series disequilibria within individual lavas of Axial Seamount to clarify eruption and petrogenetic timescales. At mid-ocean ridge systems globally, Brian is interested in a) how variability in lava morphology, geochemistry, and petrology reflect deeper mantle-melting and magmatic processes and their complex interplay with tectonism and b) improving the chronological framework of the ridge magmatic plumbing systems. Brian received his B.S. in Geology from Cal State East Bay in 2000 and PhD in Earth and Planetary Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2007. When not on the Western Flyer this summer, Brian defends the left side of the infield for the Surfing Squirrels, MBARI's coed softball team.
Heather Olins
Graduate Student
Harvard University
Heather Olins is a graduate student at Harvard University in the Girguis Lab. Her research focuses on carbon fixation, microbe-mineral interactions, and biogeography of hydrothermal vent microbes. She is interested in the interactions of microbes with their physical environment in the deep sea, and determining the role of those interactions in global biogeochemical cycles. Heather received her B.A. and M.A. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Wesleyan University. On this cruise Heather will be helping with the microbiology associated with the D-ESP and also deploying microbial samplers designed to investigate the impact that mineralogy has on microbial colonization and community structure in vent ecosystems.
Charles Vidoudez
Postdoctoral Fellow
Harvard University
Charles has a multidisciplinary background in plant biochemistry, biotechnology, chemical ecology, metabolomics and mass spectrometry. He obtained his Ph.D in chemical ecology at the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Germany, working on developing and using metabolomics methods on diatoms. Charles's postdoctoral research focuses on combining all these techniques to better understand the deep-sea ecosystems. He currently uses and further develops in situ mass spectrometers. These instruments are a highlight of the Girguis lab and allow direct in situ characterization of the gases dissolved in the seawater, especially at hydrothermal vent sites.