Diana Northup
University of New Mexico
Diana at the Head of Boulder Falls in Lechugilla Cave, New
Mexico.
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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.
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Penelope J. Boston
New Mexico Tech
Penelope Boston sampling in Spider Cave.
Photo by Kenneth Ingham.
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Penny's areas of research include cave geomicrobiology, microbial life in highly
mineralized environments, unique or characteristic biominerals and
biosignature detection. Additionally, she is involved in astrobiology and the
search for life beyond Earth. Cave formation mechanisms on other planetary
bodies is a topic of particular interest to her. Her background includes
geology, microbiology, atmospheric chemistry, global biogeochemical
cycling, and climate/life interactions.
She came to NMT to create a new program, Cave and Karst Studies, in
conjunction with the founding of the National Cave and Karst Research
Institute, of which she is the Associate Director. NMT is the major partner
with this new national institute.
She is passionate about and extensively involved in educational outreach
about caves and karst issues, space exploration, and general science for
school kids, older students, elder groups, and the general public.
Penny's Web site
Kim Plymale wrote story about Penelope Boston.
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Michael Spilde
University of New Mexico
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Michael's web page.
Michael has been interviewed by Teresa Dow.
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Leslie Melim
Western Illinois University
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Leslie's web page.
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Clifford N. Dahm
University of New Mexico
Cliff Dahm in Spider Cave.
Photo by Kenneth Ingham.
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Teresa Dow interviewed him.
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Laura J. Crossey
University of New Mexico
Laura Crossey in Spider Cave.
Photo by Kenneth Ingham.
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Teresa Dow interviewed her.
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Armand Dichosa
Ph.D. Student
University of New Mexico
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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.
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Jessica Snider
Ph.D. Student, University of New Mexico
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Jenny Hathaway
Master's Student, University of New Mexico
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Jennifer Hathaway joined the Slime Team in August of 2008, and is pursuing
her Master's in Biology at the University of New Mexico under Dr. Diana
Northup and Dr. Robert Sinsabaugh. She earned a B.S. in Biology from
Stanford University in 2001, graduating with honors. Her Master's project
focuses on the diversity of bacteria in the lava tubes on Terceira Island,
Azores, Portugal, where she will investigate whether there are environmental
factors influencing bacterial diversity in these lava tubes.
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Ara Kooser
Soon-to-be Ph.D. Student, University of New Mexico
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Megan Curry
Ph.D. Student, New Mexico Tech
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Aurora Auwen
Undergraduate, University of New Mexico
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Monica Moya
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Undergraduate, University of New Mexico
Monica Moya is an international student from Venezuela earning a B.S. in
Biology, with a minor in Chemistry. She works as an undergraduate research
assistant in Dr. Diana Northup’s cave microbiology lab. Monica studies the
bacterial composition and diversity of desert
varnish. Currently, her work also involves the comparison of the microbial diversity found in lava tubes
from two geographically distinct regions, one in El Malpais National Monument (Grants, NM) and in
Beall’s Lava Tube (Hawai’i) in conjunction with Matt Garcia. Recently,
Monica was co-awarded the Cave Conservancy of the Virginia’s Undergraduate
Research Grant, which will allow her to expand her research objectives to
include the microbial community composition found in the Azores’ lava
tubes(Portugal). Monica hopes to take the research experience she has
gained to further her academic career in graduate school.
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Matt Garcia
Undergraduate, University of New Mexico
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Nwamaka Nwagbologu
Undergraduate, University of New Mexico
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I am currently a junior at UNM studying psychology and intend to
apply to pharmacy school in the next two years. I have been working in the
Northup Lab since 2005 and have since completed the Human Impact on Microbial
Communities in Caves project. My projects include work on the Aeromicrobiology project and the
Desert Varnish project. I have focused my efforts on sequencing, editing, and culturing.
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