Bess Ward

Position: Faculty
Title: William J. Sinclair Professor of Geosciences and the Princeton Environmental Institute.
Area(s):

• Biogeochemistry
• Biological Oceanography
• Microbiology

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
217 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-5150
Email: bbw@princeton.edu

Curriculum Vitae

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Amal Jayakumar

Position: Research Staff
Title: Senior Professional Specialist, Geosciences
Area(s): Biogeochemistry
Research Focus: Microbially mediated nitrogen transformations in oceanic oxygen minimum zones

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
M45 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-6294
Email: ajayakum@princeton.edu

 

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Joseph Vineis

Position: Research Staff
Title: Associate Professional Specialist
Area(s): 

• Microbial ecology
• Biogeochemistry

Research summary: I integrate microbial genomics and biogeochemistry to identify key microbial processes and interactions that govern carbon and nitrogen cycling in marine environments.    

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Email: jv2474@princeton.edu

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Samantha G. Fortin

Position: Research Staff
Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: sf3033@princeton.edu

 

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Renxing Liang

Position: Research Staff
Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Area(s): Geomicrobiology Research Laboratory

• Microbial Ecology
• “Omics”
• Ancient DNA
• Biogeochemistry
• Microbiome
• Astrobiology

Research summary:

• The survival mechanisms and succession of microbial communities in ancient permafrost of various geological ages
• Integration of metagenomics and metaproteomics to study microbiomes associated with fossilized dinosaur bones and permafrost sediments
• Kinetics of Aspartic racemization and its correlation to the survivability of thermophiles and hyperthermophiles.

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 609-258-2387
Email: rliang@princeton.edu

Curriculum Vitae

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Jessica Lueders-Dumont

Position: Research Staff
Title: Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Research summary: I am a geochemist and ecologist focused on trophic ecology and biogeochemistry of modern and past aquatic environments, primarily through the use of the nitrogen isotopes (δ15Noto) in modern and fossil fish otoliths (ear stones) and corals. I am applying δ15Noto to investigate food web variations in past oceans, from mid-Holocene Caribbean coral reefs to Recent (decadal) ecological changes on the Icelandic shelf. My research is interdisciplinary including isotope geochemistry, biological oceanography, and biomineralization studies.

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: jl16@princeton.edu
Website

Curriculum Vitae

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Weiyi Tang

Position: Research Staff
Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Area(s):

• Nitrification
• Denitrification
• Anammox

Research summary: Weiyi Tang is interested in how nitrogen is supplied, transformed, and removed in the global ocean and how marine nitrogen cycle is connected to the carbon cycle and Earth’s climate. During his PhD, Weiyi developed and applied high-resolution observing methods, molecular techniques and machine learning algorithms to explore marine nitrogen fixation and its impact on marine productivity in the world’s ocean. Joining the Ward research group, Weiyi will study the broad nitrogen biogeochemical pathways in addition to nitrogen fixation (e.g. nitrification, denitrification, anammox).

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: weiyit@princeton.edu 

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Xianhui (Sean) Wan

Position: Research Staff
Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Area(s):

• Stable Isotope
• Nitrogen Cycle
• Nitrous Oxide

Research summary: My research focuses on the marine nitrogen and carbon cycles, particularly in microbe-phytoplankton interactions and nitrous oxide (N₂O) production in different marine systems (from the eutrophic coastal zone to the oligotrophic open ocean). To disentangle complex C & N dynamics, I take advantage of multiple C, N and O stable isotope approaches (including both natural abundance and isotope labelling technique) to examine rates of C and N transformations. Main target of my research is to better understand the role of the ocean in regulating atmospheric CO₂ and N₂O during the intimate coupling of C & N cycles and how these processes respond to anthropogenic forcing and natural variabilities. 

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (313) 502 1768
Email: xianhuiw@princeton.edu
Website

 

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Zachary Gavin

Position: Ph.D. Student
Title: Graduate Student
Area(s): Geomicrobiology Research Laboratory

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
B88 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 609-258-2387
Email: zgarvin@princeton.edu

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J. Catherine Hexter

Position: Ph.D. Student
Title: Graduate Student

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Email: jh6959@princeton.edu

 

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Naomi Intrator

Position: Ph.D. Student
Title: Graduate Student

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: naomii@princeton.edu

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Moriah A. Kunes

Position: Ph.D. Student
Title: Graduate Student
Area(s):

• Coral Symbionts
• Biological Oceanography 
• Nitrogen Cycle
• Coral Reefs

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (585) 727-7085
Email: mkunes@princeton.edu

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Jenna Lee

Position: Ph.D. Student
Title: Graduate Student

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: jennaal@princeton.edu

 

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Devan M. Nisson

Position: Ph.D. Student
Title: Graduate Student
Area(s): Geomicrobiology Research Laboratory

• Geochemistry
• Biogeochemistry

Research Summary: My research explores the origins and habitability of a deep subsurface hypersaline brine in South Africa. By combining geochemical, isotopic, and “omics” analyses, I investigate how the unique abiotic (prebiotic?) geochemical signatures of the brine may support microbial communities under the thermodynamic constraints of high temperature and hypersalinity. Additionally, I am interested in how the geochemical history and potentially long isolation time of the brine contribute to the formation of an abiotic fringe zone, where abiotic processes may dominate or exert strong influence over microbial biogeochemical cycling strategies.
Key words: microbial community, halophiles, biogeochemical cycling, subsurface life
Curriculum Vitae

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
B80 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 609-673-8326
Email: dnisson@princeton.edu

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Current Undergraduates

Isabel Rodrigues '23

 

 

Position: Geosciences Undergraduate
Email: isabelr@princeton.edu

 

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Mary-Rose Russo

Position: Administrative Staff
Title: Administrative Assistant, Geosciences

Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
113 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone:+1 (609) 258-4101
Email: mrusso@princeton.edu

 

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