In this FeMO cruise I am trying to follow up on experiments “deployed” with Brad Tebo and Hubert Staudigel in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006. We have research materials littered all over Loihi Seamount, from Pele’s pit to Pisces Peak, the South Rift and now Ula Nui, that have been colonized and reacted with fluids for the past several years. It’s time for us to figure out how the chemistry of the different materials controls which microorganisms preferentially colonize each type of surface. At the same time, we are trying to measure how microbial biofilm formation changes the chemistry of the basalt surfaces over varying timescales.

Where is your hometown?

Boulder, Colorado is my “new” and future hometown for my family.

What is your career?

I am a professor at CU-Boulder in the Dept. Geological Sciences, where I run a geomicrobiology laboratory and teach courses in geochemistry.

What is your education and training?

I started in the Earth Sciences for a B.A. and M.S. in the area of isotope geochemistry, which eventually landed me a government job applying isotope techniques to bioremediation efforts. After several years I returned for a PhD in the area of geomicrobiology, and have jumped back and forth between geochemistry and microbiology ever since, through a post-doc and into my current faculty position.

What inspired you to choose your career and which persons were your role models?

A love of field work and joy in struggling with tricky experimental techniques. Each faculty advisor (M.S., PhD and post-doc) has had a profound impact in supporting my love of science and assisting my career development.

What are some of your favorite things about life at sea?

The team atmosphere where we are all intensely focused on a few central questions. And the food, particularly the luxurious breakfasts that include copious amounts of bacon and fruit.

What do you do in your free time?

I have two young children, new classes to teach, new lab to establish, and a clamoring cadre of graduate students: so I have honestly forgotten what the word free-time means. One day soon I hope to ski in the Colorado Mountains again and get out camping.

Anything else you’d like to say?

Thank you to the Chief Scientist and his co-PI's for allowing me to fill a berth on this cruise.

Contact information:

Dept. Geological Sciences
UCB 399, 2200 Colorado Ave
Boulder, CO 803090-0399
Email: Alexis.templeton@colorado.edu
Website: http://spot.colorado.edu/~templeta

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