GeoBiological Groundwater Research Group

( GBiG )

 
What is GBiG?
An interdisciplinary research group to address scientific questions using geological, biological, and hydrological methods.
GBIG has 2 subdivisions:
 
Hot Springs as the Key to Life on Earth and Mars?
(image from Yellowstone National Park)

 

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Book publication: Life in the Universe: Expectations and Constraints (2004) Springer, ISBN 3-540-20627-2, Paperback now available at Amazon.com

Papers:

Abdel-Fattah, A., Langford, R., and Schulze-Makuch, D. (2008) Applications of particle-tracking techniques to bank infiltration: a case study from El Paso, Texas, USA. In press at Environmental Geology.

Schulze-Makuch, D., Turse, C., Houtkooper, J.M., and McKay, C.P. (2008) Testing the H2O2-H2O Hypothesis for Life on Mars with the TEGA instrument on the Phoenix Lander. In review at Astrobiology.

Schulze-Makuch, D., Fairén, A.G., and Davila, A. F. (2008) The case for life on Mars. In review at Astrobiology.

Fan, C., Schulze-Makuch, D., Fairén, A.G, and Wolff, J.A. (2008) Origin and redistribution of sulfates in the equatorial region of Western Mars. In review at Geophysical Research Letters.

Houtkooper, J.M. and Schulze-Makuch, D. (2007) A Possible Biogenic Origin for Hydrogen Peroxide on Mars: the Viking Results Reinterpreted, ÊInt. J. of Astrobiology 6, no. 2, p. 147-152.

Islam, M.R. and Schulze-Makuch, D. (2007) Adaptation Mechanisms of Multicellular Extremophiles, Int. J. of Astrobiology 6, no. 2, p. 199-215.

Schulze-Makuch, D., Dohm, J.M., Fan, C., Fairén, A.G., Rodriguez, J.A.P., Baker, V.R., and Fink, W. (2007) Exploration of hydrothermal sites on Mars. Icarus 189: 308-324.

Furfaro, R., Dohm, J.M., Fink, W., Baker, V., Schulze-Makuch, D., Fairén, A.F., Ferre, P.T., Kargel, J., Hare, T., and Tarbell, M. (2008) Fuzzy Logic-Based Expert System for Conducting Tier-Scalable Planetary Reconnaissance, in press.

Fairén, A.G., McKay, C.P., Dohm, J.M., Rodriguez, A.P., Schulze-Makuch, D., and Amils, R. (2008) Amazonian acidic liquid water on Mars: evidence from MER explorations. In review.

Marion, G., and Schulze-Makuch, D. (2006) Astrobiology and the search for life in the universe. Book Chapter in Physiology and Biochemistry of Extremophiles (ed. C. Gerday and N. Glansdorff), in press.

Schulze-Makuch, D., and Irwin, L.N. (2006) The prospect of alien life in exotic forms on other worlds. Invited as review article to Naturwissenschaften, vol. 93, no. 4, p. 155-172.

Diaz, B. and Schulze-Makuch, D. (2006) Microbial survival rates of E. coli and D. radiodurans under single and combined stresses of temperature, pressure, and UV radiation, and its relevance to Martian environmental conditions. Astrobiology 6, no. 2, p. 332-347.

Muller, A.W.J. and Schulze-Makuch, D. (2006) Thermal energy and the origin of life. In press at Origin of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, vol. 36: 177-189.


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Team Members:
 


Dirk Schulze-Makuch/ WSU (Eco-hydrogeology, Astrobiology)
Louis N. Irwin/ UTEP (Neurobiology, Astrobiology)
Kent Keller/ WSU (Eco-hydrology)
Suresh D. Pillai/ Texas A&M (Microbiology)
Thomas Kretzschmar/ CICESE, Mexico (Geochemistry, Hydrology) (E-mail)
John Walton /UTEP (Civil Engineering)
Christoph Vogt/ Univ. of Bremen, Germany (Mineralogy)
Philip Goodell/ UTEP (Geochemistry)
Mohammed R. Islam/WSU (environmental geochemistry) (E-mail)
Benjamin Diaz/ Cornell University (Biology, Toxicology) (E-mail)
Huade Guan/ New Mexico Tech (Hydrogeology) (E-mail)
Alberto Barud/ UTEP (Geosciences/Engineering)
Tanya Lehner/ ERM Consultants (Geobiology, Hydrology) (E-mail)
Sam Abbas/ EPLC (Environmental Science) (E-mail)
Denzil Ali/Univ. of West Indies (Extreme Environments) (E-mail)
Shirin Haque/ Univ. of West Indies (Physics) (E-mail)
Colleen Rust/ WSU (Geobiology, Hydrology) (E-mail)
Phillip Rust/WSU (Geobiology, Hydrology) (E-mail)
Chaojun Fan/WSU (Hydrogeology, Organic Chemistry) (E-mail)
Natalia Loukinova/WSU (Computer Modeling, Geobiology) (E-mail)
Carol Turse/WSU (Environmental Sciences, Geobiology) (E-mail)


Projects:
1.Bioremediation, and Transport of Bacteria and Viruses

Microbial and chemical composition of Earth's atmosphere (Project Manager/Contact: Philip Rust)

Microbial transport in a natural asphalt lake: Pitch Lake, Trinidad (Project Manager/Contact: Denzil Ali)

Investigation of bacterial transport in a model aquifer
(Project Manager/Contact: Colleen Rust)

Use of surfactant modified zeolite to adsorb microbes and other pathogens in ground water (Project Manager/Contact:Colleen Rust)

2.Extreme Environments, Planetary Hydrology, and Astrobiology

Hydrothermal fluids and the Search for Biomarkers on Mars (Project Manager/Contact: Chaojun Fan)

Multicellular Extremophiles (Project Manager/Contact: Mohammed Islam)

Modeling of the rise of cyanobacteria in Earth's early history (Project Manager/Contact: Natalia Loukinova)

Pavilion Lake Research Project (Contact: Darlene Lim, Bernard Laval, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Carol Turse), for more info go to http://supercritical.civil.ubc.ca/~pavilion/

 
 
 
Lake Lucero, White Sands National Monument.
Pitch Lake, Trinidad
  

 

     
Martian Exploration of a Lava Tube (art by Gus Frederick)

Questions/Input?     

 - Think you fit in to work on one of those projects ?  

Contact Dirk Schulze-Makuch

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Last Update: 1 January 2008