Skip to main content

Suzanna Bräuer

Bräuer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Appalachian State University.  She is a microbiologist whose work includes microbial ecology of cave systems (particularly manganese oxidizing bacterial communities), the role of anthropogenic impact on microbial communities, and microbial methane production in peat bogs. The research is being conducted to better understand the microbial processes that form minerals in caves in eastern Tennessee may help NASA scientists determine if similar microbial processes are occurring on Mars. 

She collects iron and manganese oxide mineral deposits in one of the caves in eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia where she has conducted research. The minerals are created by microbes that use reduced metals as an energy source. A similar microbial process could occur or could have occurred on Mars which also contains iron oxides. The research is being conducted to better understand the microbial processes that form minerals in caves in eastern Tennessee in hopes that it may help NASA scientists determine if similar microbial processes are occurring on Mars.

“We are looking at the range of manganese oxide structures that can be formed from different organisms under different conditions in different environments and we use that information to hypothesize based on mineral structures from Mars whether it was likely to have formed through a biotic or abiotic process,” Bräuer said.

She is also studying methane production in acidic peat bogs and peat forming wetlands in the Watauga County area. “There is methane on Mars and we are interested in looking at which type of methane-producing microorganisms are present in acidic to more pH-neutral environments.”

SOURCE
http://www.news.appstate.edu/2011/12/12/appalachian-professors-are-part-of-the-search-for-early-life/
http://geomicrobiology.appstate.edu/personnel

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

QUOTE: Marie M. Daly

"Courage is like — it’s a habitus, a habit, a virtue: you get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging." Marie M. Daly (1921–2003), Biochemist & the first African American woman in the US to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry. #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls

Jessica Deli

Jessica Deli has been Central Region Coordinator for the NCRC since 2012 but before then she had already made her mark as a rescue specialist and cave conservationist all over the US. Deli has been involved with the National Cave Rescue Commission since 2005. With a simple Google search you will find her name everywhere participating in cave rescue training efforts. She appeared in the New York Grotto 2008 report for the Cave rescue Seminar and 2013 Orientation to Cave Rescue. In 2006 Kansas City Grotto mentioned her in the Orientation to Cave Rescue at Indiana University. Central Indiana Grotto enjoyed her demos in 2012 at the club's Vertical training. At the 2011 NSS Convention she presented "Atmospheric Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Levels in Caves: What is Normal? Preliminary Results" with Anmar Mirza. And in 2005 she was involved in the Buckner's Cave clean-up project at Indiana University Bloomington. Deli's credentials in civilian life are impressive too! T

800 Facebook Likes!

Yippee! EWLS fans are awesome! Thank you all so much for sharing and liking our FB page. Since last February when we announced 700 likes, we have gained a blog and our annual event is ramping up for some major festivities. Please check out our Extraordinary Women Cavers (EWC's) who will be featured in this year's publication and sign up so that you can get in on these limited caving trips to gated and protected caves in the Magic Valley area of Idaho! Have a great day everyone and thank you for supporting women cavers! LINKS Webpage: www.ewls.org EWC's: www.ewls.org/past-editions.html Annual Event: www.ewls.org/all-grrs-cave-trip.html Annual Event FB page: www.facebook.com/events/127091664128055