Our Team
Working Group Board
Julie Bartley
Professor
Gustavus Adolphus College
Department of Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences
Catherine Fontana
Geobiology PhD Candidate
University of Colorado, Boulder
Department of Earth Science
Catherine.fontana@colorado.edu
Research interests: cyanobacterial biofilms, microbially induced calcite precipitation, linking laboratory experiments with field observations, experimental evolution, microbial physiology, stable isotope geochemistry, the evolution of planetary habitability during the Archean, and astrobiology.
Fun fact: Has hiked the Grand Canyon twice.
Laurane Fogret
Postdoctoral Researcher
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
the Netherlands
Laurane Fogret is a postdoctoral researcher at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Netherlands. Her work focuses on the co-evolution of life and Earth’s surface environments, specializing in the field-based recognition and interpretation of stromatolites. By integrating detailed textural observations with elemental and isotopic geochemistry, she investigates the mechanisms of carbonate precipitation and the preservation of biological signatures in the geological record. Her work aims to decipher the complex chemical and microbial signals that define these ancient archives of life.
Thomas Hickson
Professor
University of St. Thomas
Department of Earth, Environment and Society
Research interests: developing a common, controlled vocabulary for microbialite sedimentology to answer key cross-disciplinary questions about the evolution of life on Earth and elsewhere; lacustrine microbialite textures, morphology, and geochemistry; image analysis, remote sensing, microcontroller applications in environmental science and pedagogy, and physical modeling of sedimentary processes.
Ashley Manning-Berg
San Diego Mesa Community College
Research interests: silicification; replacement; the preservation potential of microbial morphologies and biochemistry; the preservation of environmental conditions in ancient oceans; and microplastic interaction with microbialites.
Juliana Olsen-Valdez
Postdoctoral Researcher
Université de Genève, Switzerland
Research interests: microbialite biogeochemistry across Earth history, ancient-modern analog work in microbialite systems, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, stable isotope geochemistry, sedimentology, and stratigraphy.
Charlotte Spruzen
PhD candidate
McGill University
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
charlotte.spruzen@mail.mcgill.ca
Research interests: Field geology and petrography, with a particular focus on the under-recognized diversity of non-stromatolitic microbialites; Precambrian sedimentology and stratigraphy; science communication (@charbonate).
Pablo Suarez-Gonzalez
Professor
Complutense University of Madrid
Research interests: Sedimentology and basin analysis; field geology and petrography; micrbobialites and relationships between microbial communities and sedimentary processes throughout the stratigraphic record; mineral precipitation associated with microbial communities; ooids and their relationship with microbialites.
Other Contributors
Faculty and Collaborators
- Pakeeza Akram, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of St. Thomas
- Tommy Marrinan, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of St. Thomas
- Maribel Benito Moreno, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Emma Quijada van den Berghe, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
- Pierre Sansjofre, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
- Esther Sanz-Montero, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Undergraduate Researchers
- Shreya Jaiswal, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of St. Thomas
- James Faul, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of St. Thomas
- Anna Curtler, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of St. Thomas
- Will Haldane, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of St. Thomas
- Miranda Vizoso-Marino, Department of Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota
- Katrinna Deters, Department of Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota
- Avery Wilson, Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas
- Connor Ross, Department of Earth, Environment, and Society, University of St. Thomas