MOD Lab - Lab Members

Dr. Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert, P.I.

Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert’s research focuses on microbially mediated Earth-life interactions, with the goal of identifying key players in global biogeochemical cycles and determining their rates of activity in past and modern environments. She integrates a range of techniques, including geochemical, gene-based and statistical methods, and applies them across various scales, from molecules to oceanic basins. She’s an Associate Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration.

Email: e.t.r@asu.edu

Emma Brown

Emma is a Ph.D Candidate in Geological Sciences at the School of Earth and Space Exploration. Her research focuses on the energetics and microbiomes of modern hydrothermal vents. Additionally, she is investigating the potential role of hydrothermal vents in the development of prebiotic chemistry on early Earth and other Ocean Worlds. When she is not working, you can find her running Arizona trials, spending time with her cat, or camping.

Email: ekbrown8@asu.edu

Vince Debes

Vince Debes is a Geological Sciences MS student, transitioning into the Ph.D. program, at the School of Earth and Space Exploration. He is interested in understanding how hydrothermal fluid dynamics in Yellowstone National Park change throughout the seasons and how that change could impact hot spring microbial communities. When not in the field or lab, Vince enjoys backpacking, trying new cooking techniques, and attempting to grow desert plants from seeds.

Email: rdebes@asu.edu

Lucas Carter

Lucas is a PhD student in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. His research focuses on developing techniques to collect and characterize communities of atmospheric-dwelling microorganisms. When not in the field or lab, he enjoys hiking, camping, visiting art museums and coffee shops, and napping with his cat, Milo.

Email: lmcart12@asu.edu

Carolynn Harris

Carolynn is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Geomicrobiology and Astrobiology at the School of Earth and Space Exploration. She is interested in exploring how microbial life shapes and records Earth’s biogeochemical cycles, particularly in planetary analog environments. Her postdoc research couples NanoSIMS stable isotope probing and RNA-seq techniques to characterize enigmatic microbial metabolisms in lab experiments and environmental samples from the deep sea.

Email: carolynn.harris@asu.edu

Website: carolynnharris.com

Christine Quan

Christine is an undergraduate student majoring in Biological Sciences with a certificate in Computational Life Sciences. She is interested in understanding how microorganisms adapt to environmental changes and the mechanisms that drive their evolution. Outside of school, she loves playing tennis, making pottery, and hanging out with her cat!

Email:

ctquan@asu.edu

Alexander Sonke

Alex is a PhD student studying planetary science and astrobiology. His project with Dr. Trembath-Reichert explores the role of oxalotrophic microbes in global carbon cycling. His other projects use remote sensing data to investigate the geology of the Moon and Mercury. In his free time, Alex enjoys hiking, photography, music, and brewing mead.

Email: asonke@asu.edu

Sien Smania

Sien is a Geological Sciences MS student in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. They are interested in how microbes interact with geochemical processes, as well as environmental applications in microbiology. They are currently investigating microbial communities from Yellowstone National Park to find and study microbes that can degrade complex organics such as polyethylene (plastic). Outside of research, Sien enjoys traveling the world, learning languages, and reading in bed with their cat.

Email: ssmania@asu.edu

Former Lab Members

Katelyn Weeks

Katelyn Weeks is a Ph.D. Candidate in the School of Molecular Sciences. Her research focus is the investigation of nitrogen cycling in hot spring ecosystems using a combination of geochemical and microbiological techniques. When she is not in the field or in the lab, Katelyn can be found at the local climbing gym or baking pastries.

Dr. Alexi Besser

Alexi is a postdoctoral researcher in the MOD Lab exploring the ecology and metabolic activity of microbes living in Earth’s atmosphere. To this end, she is currently developing pipelines for the metagenomics and metaproteomics analyses of these unique low-biomass samples. As broadly trained ecologist specializing in cutting-edge isotopic and molecular techniques, Alexi more generally investigates the biosynthesis and movement of essential compounds within and among organisms across a variety of ecosystems. Alexi enjoys all the ecosystems the Southwest has to offer and spends most of her free time hiking with her dog or biking all sorts of terrain.

Dr. Jon Zaloumis

As a postdoc in the MOD lab, Jon is developing methods to generate downstream correlative datasets used for characterizing the morphology and composition of microbes isolated from extreme environments. A graduate of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, Jon has broad interests in astrobiology, planetary habitability, and biosignatures of past life preserved in geologic materials. During his PhD, he investigated how evidence of microbial life can be preserved among serpentinizing environments in Oman, within ancient playa deposits from the hyperarid Atacama Desert, and among spring carbonates in the SW USA.

Christian Swonger

Hi my name is Christian! I am a senior at Arizona State University majoring in Molecular Biosciences and Biotechnology. My academic interests revolve around microbes, biotechnology, and space exploration. Outside of academia I enjoy experimenting with coffee, bouldering, traveling, and reading comics. As a final year student with Barrett I am currently working on my Barrett Thesis under the supervision of Dr.Trembath-Reichert. We hope to better understand a special group of proteins called intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and the implications they could have in astobiology and biotechnology.

Zollee Williams

Hi, my name is Zollee Williams. I am a senior majoring in Biology at ASU West. Currently, I am conducting my honors thesis in Dr. Elizabeth Trembath-Reichert’s lab. I will be working with Dr. Karena Gill and Dr. Trembath-Reichert to identify microbes within Mars-analog sulfate mineral fluid inclusions. We plan to conduct a genomic analysis of microbes within these fluid inclusions to provide insight into the potential life present on Mars. Outside of research, I enjoy discovering new music and trying new food.

Zachary Clayton

I was born and raised near Los Angeles, California. For undergraduate I attended Arizona State University and graduated with a B.S. in biochemistry. I have been a member of the MOD Lab since 2022 and began pursing a PhD in 2021. My research interests are the geochemical and microbial processes in volcanic systems. Outside of lab I have a passion for cooking, golf, and sports in general.

Colin Boecker-Grieme

Hello, my name is Colin Boecker-Grieme. I am a second year Astrobiology and Biogeosciences major with a minor in Music Performance. I am from Phoenix, Arizona and this is my first year doing research in Dr. Trembath-Reichert's lab.

Isabel McIntyre

Isabel is an Astrophysics Ph.D. student in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. They are excited about astrobiology, and their project focuses on identifying intrinsically disordered proteins in deep sea microbes. Outside of research, Isabel enjoys recurve archery, reading, and playing guitar.

Chanel Vidal

Chanel Vidal is a Ph.D. Candidate in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. She's excited about research that is at the intersection of microbiology and geology and enjoys exploring life in extreme environments. Her research focuses on membrane lipid adaptations bacteria make during cold and desiccation shock, with an overarching goal of trying to figure out how bacteria could live in polyextreme cold and arid environments. Outside of research, she enjoys trail running in the beautiful mountains around Phoenix, exploring new recipes to cook, and spending time with her 7 lb dog.

Ronie Moore

My name is Ronie Moore and I am an undergraduate student majoring in Biological Sciences (conservation and ecology). I’m particularly interested in exoplanets more specifically potential habitable zones that can warrant some life-bearing bio signatures. Outside of research and school work, I love to travel, read and be outdoors!

Eliana Benites

Eliana Benites is a volunteer for the School of Earth and Space Exploration. Currently, her work focuses on research that combines science and engineering together. With an undergraduate degree in Earth and Space Exploration (Astrobiology and Biogeosciences), she’s passionate about pursuing higher education to further understand the ways in which life thrives in extreme environments. Outside of research, she loves traveling abroad, reading, hiking across Arizona, creating music, and painting her imagination.

Hayden Ferrell

Hayden Ferrell is an undergraduate student studying Astrobiology and Biophysics. She is interested in extremophiles, origin of life, and space exploration. Outside of academics, she loves hiking, traveling, reading, and capturing the best Arizona sunsets.

Veronica Mierzejewski

I am a PhD student at the School of Earth and Space Exploration studying astrobiology. My passion lies in finding the possible hidden physics that explain life while also understanding life's origins, functions, evolution and limits. My project involves characterizing the proteome of a microbial community that have been buried 2 kilometers beneath the subsurface for millions of years. The goal is to find evidence of their adaptation to this unique environment, and if no such adaptation exists, reveal that they can serve as a living time capsule for organisms 20 million years ago. In my free time, I love playing tennis, hiking, camping, running, visiting the Pacific Northwest, and cooking food with my friends.

Desirée Bogen

I am a student in the School of Life Sciences working on my master's degree in Microbiology. I am very interested in bioinformatics and the ways I can use it my pan genomics research. During my free time you'll find me in a bookstore feeding my book addiction, even though I haven't gotten through half my tbr books on my bookshelf.

Adrianna Matthews

Adrianna Matthews is majoring in Astrobiology and Biogeosciences at the School of Earth and Space Exploration. She enjoys researching hydrothermal vent systems on Earth and the extreme forms of life that inhabit them. She also enjoys studying icy satellites such as Europa and Enceladus. Adrianna is very intrigued by the various extremophilic organisms that make up our world, and often wonders if they might be present on other planetary bodies in or outside our solar system.

Desmond Hanan

Desmond is a Master of Science (M.S.) student in geological sciences whose research focuses on microbial interactions with minerals and soils in arid environments. His interest in the interactions between biology and geology stems from his interest in astrobiology and research into how life could possibly survive in harsh and unusual environments like the surface of Mars. His is often tied to aspects of astrobiology and the search for extant life beyond earth. His first project is focused on figuring out how microbes can extract water from soils and minerals during long dry seasons and droughts when rainfall and other sources of moisture are rare. He is also working on projects analyzing how plant litter decomposes in desert microclimates. Outside of science, Desmond really enjoys volleyball, swimming and hiking. He often goes hiking around Tempe and Flagstaff, though his favorite place to hike is the organ mountains in New Mexico. Besides physical activities he also really enjoys singing, making music, and playing board games.

Helen Madeen, M.N.S

Helen Madeen is a Master of Natural Science (M.N.S.) student in Geological Sciences in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU. She is interested in geomicrobiology, particularly, microbe interactions and carbon assimilation modes utilized by microbes in the deep subsurface. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Willamette University and is excited to combine her love for microbiology with geology to research microbes in the deep subsurface.

Melissa Parkhurst

Melissa is an undergraduate student at ASU studying astrobiology. She has been taking classes in the physical sciences with a focus on geological processes such as soil formation, ocean systems, and mineralogy. Her interests are extremophiles and ocean exploration. Her future goal is to integrate her skills and experiences to observe and understand the many unique forms life can take and contribute to the innovation of new methods of ocean exploration.

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