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
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