Geobiology

Geobiology is the study of how life drives the evolution of our planet, and how geologic processes affect the evolution of life. At Rutgers University, our research interests include evolutionary ecology, biogeochemical cycles, the sedimentary rock record, and geomicrobiology. Our cross-disciplinary approach involves campus-wide collaborative efforts between faculty in the Earth and life sciences. Many of our core geobiology faculty have joint appointments between the Department of Geological Sciences, the Institute of Marine and Costal Sciences, the Department of Environmental Sciences, and the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology.

Core Faculty

Tamar Barkay – Ph.D. University of Maryland, 1980, Research Interests: metal microbe interactions, microbial communities, microbial adaptation, horizontal gene transfer, and evolutionary origin of microbial life on earth.

Kay Bidle – Ph.D. University of California, San Diego 2001 Research Interests: Marine microbial ecology; biological oceanography; biogeochemistry; molecular ecology and evolution; phytoplankton mortality; structure and function of marine microbial food webs; interactions of marine microbes with phytoplankton.

Paul G. Falkowski – Ph.D. University of British Columbia 1974, Research Interests: evolution of biogeochemical cycles,  photosynthesis, symbioses, isotopic fractionation, origin of life. 

Lily Young – Ph.D. Harvard University, 1972 Research Interests: Anaerobic microbial metabolism, microbial ecology, environmental microbiology.

Costantino Vetriani – Ph.D. University of Rome Tor Vergata 1994,  Research Interests: deep-sea microbiology, extremophiles, molecular ecology, adaptations to extreme environments.

Nathan Yee – Ph.D. University of Notre Dame 2001, Research Interests: microbial geochemistry, biomineralization, geomicrobiology.