I am performing on-ship incubations of sea-floor microbial communities to understand their role in nitrogen cycling and their contributions to the global nitrogen cycle. This is important to life on Earth as nitrogen is a vital component that is found in the proteins, DNA, and RNA of all organisms and can serve as a metabolite for various bacteria. In some environments, low quantities of nitrogen can be limiting to the amount of organisms that can live there – as such it is important to understand the factors that remove nitrogen from ecosystems via bacterial metabolisms.

Where is your hometown?

Los Angeles, for now.

What is your career?

I am a second year graduate student at the University of Southern California in Marine and Environmental Biology.

What is your education and training?

I have an associates degree from Seattle Central Community College and two bachelor’s of science degrees from the University of Washington in Earth Sciences and Microbiology.

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

I chose to do pursue science as a career because I enjoy the challenge of exploring how geology, the oceans, and biology interact. It is a lot of fun to constantly learn and discover new things.

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

Few to no insects. Bugs like to stay near land.

What do you do in your free time?

I like to read, hike, listen to music and I am an obsessive ice hockey fan.

Contact information:

University of Southern California
Marine and Environmental Biology
3616 Trousdale Parkway, AHF 107
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Email: ghorn@usc.edu

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