SLIME Team People

SLIME Team People

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SLIME team associates

SLIME team students

SLIME team students who have graduated and moved on

SLIME team staff who have moved on

Past SLIME team associates

SLIME team friends

The SLIME Team

Diana Northup University of New Mexico Diana at the Head of Boulder Falls in Lechugilla Cave, New Mexico.	Diana Northup has been studying things that live in caves since 1984. She has a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of New Mexico. She and her colleagues on the SLIME (Subsurface Life In Mineral Environments) Team are investigating how microbes help form the colorful ferromanganese deposits that coat the walls of Lechuguilla and Spider Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park (funded by the National Science Foundation Life in Extreme Environments Program); how these deposits compare to surface desert/rock varnish coatings (funded by the NSF Geosciences Directorate); how microbes participate in the precipitation of calcium carbonate formations called pool fingers; and the microbial diversity located in the hydrogen sulfide cave, Cueva de las Sardinas in Tabasco, Mexico. Diana has been honored by having her work featured on NOVA and by being asked to serve as a Guest Editor for Geomicrobiology Journal for a special issue on Geomicrobiology of Caves. She is also the recipient of a Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation grant to study the impact of humans on microbial populations in caves. Currently, Diana blends the best of both worlds by teaching biology students information searching skills in Centennial Library at the University of New Mexico, where she is a Professor Emerita, and by actively researching cave microbial ecology using molecular and microscopy techniques. She is also a Visiting Associate Professor of Biology and guest lectures in various Biology courses and teaches a Freshman Learning Community, The World of Microbes. Diana has been interviewed by Teresa Dow. Diana's Curriculum Vita and a list of honors is also online.
Penelope J. Boston New Mexico Tech Penelope Boston sampling in Spider Cave. Photo by Kenneth Ingham.	Need more here... Penny's Web site Kim Plymale wrote story about Penelope Boston.
Michael Spilde University of New Mexico	Need more here... Michael's web page. Michael has been interviewed by Teresa Dow.
Leslie Melim Western Illinois University	Need more here... Leslie's web page.
Clifford N. Dahm University of New Mexico Cliff Dahm in Spider Cave. Photo by Kenneth Ingham.	Need more here... Teresa Dow interviewed him.
Laura J. Crossey University of New Mexico Laura Crossey in Spider Cave. Photo by Kenneth Ingham.	Need more here... Teresa Dow interviewed her.

SLIME Team Associates

Kathleen H. Lavoie SUNY Plattsburgh	Need more here...
Lawrence M. Mallory Biomes, Inc.	Need more here...
Louise Hose	Need more here...
Carlos Alberto Cordero Martinez Kolem Ja, Tabasco, Mexico	Need more here...
Alejadra Alvarada Zink Universum Science Museum University City, Mexico D.F.	Need more here...

SLIME Team Students

Armand Dichosa Ph.D. Student University of New Mexico	Armand E. Dichosa joined the University of New Mexico's Department of Biology in 2001 as a Masters student researching evolution in the euryarchaeote Methanospirillum hungatei, using the cell-division protein, FtsZ, as a molecular marker. After receiving his M.S. in 2004, he continued his academic career with the department in pursuit of a Ph.D. under Doctors Diana Northup and Larry L. Barton. He now investigates the biogenecity of ferromanganese deposits (FMD) in karst cave systems. Spider Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM, is the primary site for his studies. It is known that FMD, which coats the cave walls with a wide array of colors, are the metabolic products of microbially influenced iron and manganese oxidation (forming Fe3+ and Mn4+). The basic questions of Armand's research asks: 1) Who are the microbes that comprise the variant FMD color communities?; 2) Of the ones identified, which ones are known iron and manganese oxidizers?; 3) Is there a correlation across the different FMD communities with regards to species number, common species, and dominant species?; and, 4) How are these microorganisms able to acquire their nutrients from their chemolithotrophic environment? Armand employs molecular approaches (PCR, DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis), sequencing), classic-culturing studies, and advanced microscopy techniques (SEM (scanning electron microscopy), EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy) to help address these questions. Armand has received partial funding from UNM's Student and Graduate Research Allocations Committees, Grove Summer Research Scholarship (2006), the New Mexico Geological Society of America Kottlowski Fellowship (2007), and is a two-time recipient of NASA's New Mexico Space Grant Consortium Fellowship (2007, 2008). Throughout his graduate career, Armand has been active in educating biology undergraduates and has mentored students interested in laboratory research. He was a teaching assistant in microbial cultures, genetics problem-based sessions, the Biology Department's Molecular Biology Facility, co-instructed a course in Microbial Diversity and Evolution, and has TAd ten semesters of Microbiology Lab for both Biology and Health-Science majors. Armand was nominated for the Gunter-Starkey Graduate Student of the Year Award (2004), and won Best Graduate Research Poster (2006) and Best Graduate Research Presentation (2007) from the Rio Grande Branch of the American Society for Microbiology.
Jessica Snider Ph.D. Student, University of New Mexico	Need more here...
Ara Kooser Soon-to-be Ph.D. Student, University of New Mexico	Need more here...
Megan Curry Ph.D. Student, New Mexico Tech	Need more here...
Aurora Auwen Undergraduate, University of New Mexico	Need more here...
Monica Moya Undergraduate, University of New Mexico	Need more here...
Matt Garcia Undergraduate, University of New Mexico	Need more here...
Marco Terrazas Undergraduate, University of New Mexico	Need more here...
Nwamaka Nwagbologu Undergraduate, University of New Mexico	Need more here...

Past SLIME Team Students

Andi Hunter Former student at the University of New Mexico in the Water Resources Master's Program	Need more here...
Rachel Schelbe Former undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico	Need more here...
Kathy Dano (formerly Kathy Dotson) Former undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico	Need more here... Kathy's web site.
Donna Pham Former undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico	Need more here...

Past SLIME Team Staff

Laura Yu (previously, Laura Bean) University of Michigan Former technician in Diana Northup's Lab at The University of New Mexico	Need more here...
April Wright National Clonal Germplasm Repository USDA-ARS Corvallis, OR Former research scientist I in Diana Northup's Lab at The University of New Mexico	Need more here...

Past SLIME Team Associates

Jody van de Kamp	Need more here...
Sue Barns	Need more here...

SLIME Team Friends

Morgan Perrone	Need more here... Morgan's autobiography
William White	Need more here... An interview with William and Betty White

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