Thursday, October 3, 2019
NSS #24: Dr. Jessica Labonté, Texas A&M Galveston
Live online, 9:30AM HAST / 12:30PM PDT / 3:30PM EDT

You are what you eat: a geochemical and microbial study of a 3000-year old stratigraphic sediment succession

Microbes make up the majority of the biomass in sediment, where they play a role in cycling organic carbon and regulate the fluctuation of organic matter. In anoxic sediment, the relationships between geochemical gradients, genomic potential, and virus-host interactions remain understudied and poorly understood. I will present the results of our study of stratified sediments from anoxic sinkhole (Blackwood Sinkhole, Bahamas), where we analyzed the pore water chemistry analysis (nutrients, carbon, nitrogen), microbial community composition (16S rRNA gebe and metagenomics), and virus-host interactions. Through the characterization of the relationships of microbes between each other and with their environment, we aim to identify the role organic and inorganic matter availability plays in shaping viral and prokaryotic communities, as well as how microbial communities shape their environment.

Dr. Labonté received her B.S. and M. Sc. from Laval University, and her Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. She was a post-doctoral researcher at Bigelow Laboratory before heading to Texas A&M University at Galveston, where she currently is an Assistant Professor. Her research focuses on determining the role of viruses in aquatic environments, from the surface to below the seafloor, through the characterization of their relationships with their hosts.


Thursday, November 7, 2019
NSS #25: Dr. James Bradley, Queen Mary University London
Live online, 9:30AM HAST / 12:30PM PST / 3:30PM EST



About the C-DEBI Networked Speaker Series

C-DEBI is a “networked” Science and Technology Center, gathering expertise, ideas, and participation from institutions across the U.S. and around the world. Our Networked Speaker Series is a means to enhance communication and the exchange of ideas among our community separated by thousands of miles via live online presentations with time for questions and discussion with remote participants. The series is also recorded and available on the website for those unable to “attend” the live events.

The Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) is a “networked” Science and Technology Center (STC), gathering expertise, ideas, and participation from institutions across the U.S. and around the world.  C-DEBI runs the Networked Speaker Series as one means to enhance communication and the exchange of ideas via short (30 minute) presentations with time for questions and discussion.  The series is presented live online for remote participants, and is recorded and available on the website for those unable to "attend" the live events.

Please feel free to forward along the webinar info to anyone who might be interested:

To join the meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/330162551