Elizabeth Swanner, Assistant Professor in the Geologic and Atmospheric Sciences Department, received two new grants this past fall:

 

1. Title: “CAREER: Quantifying the extent and biogeochemical impact of modern ferruginous lakes.”

Name of PI: Elizabeth Swanner (ISU)

Program Name: National Science Foundation, EAR, Geobiology & Low-Temperature Geobiology

Performance Period: July 2020-June 2025

This project will investigate the iron sources to ferruginous lakes in the Midwest, and how iron influences primary productivity and microbial methane cycling in lakes.

 

2. Title: “What Life Wants: Exploring the Natural Selection of Elements.”

Name of PI: Betul Kacar (University of Arizona), Co-I: Joanna Masel, University of Arizona; Ariel Anbar and Giovanna Ghirlanda, Arizona State University; Anne Dekas, Stanford; Lance Seefeldt, Utah State; Elizabeth Swanner, Iowa State; William Seyfried, University of Minnesota; and Stephen Romaniello, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Program Name: NASA Interdisciplinary Collaborative Astrobiology Research (ICAR)

Performance Period: October 2020-September 2025

Swanner will lead a project within this collaborative grant to investigate the molybdenum requirements for nitrogen fixation under ferruginous conditions. This work will make use of a nitrogen-fixing anoxygenic phototrophic Chlorobium sp. isolated by Dr. Nick Lambrecht (IM PhD ’19), as well as the ferruginous lake it was isolated from – Brownie Lake in Minneapolis, MN. Current IM PhD student Zackry Stevenson will lead these experiments.

Congratulations, Dr. Swanner!