C-DEBI Newsletter – March 17, 2014
C-DEBI Newsletter – March 17, 2014This newsletter is also accessible via our website.
Your research and education grants and postdoctoral and graduate fellowship proposals are due to our Spring 2014 call in just two more weeks! C-DEBI is committed to diversity and this year will be sponsoring the SACNAS Conference in Los Angeles, see more on how to participate below. Bon voyage to the researchers on this month’s cruise to the mid-Atlantic Ocean, where they’ll use underwater robots and subseafloor observatories to explore nearly three miles below the sea surface!
C-DEBI researcher and Activity Theme Team Leader Dr. Beth Orcutt (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences) is one of the Ocean Leadership Distinguished Lecturers touring the country during the 2014-2015 academic year. Apply now to host her at your institution and learn about “Buried Alive: Life Beneath the Seafloor.” The Consortium for Ocean Leadership’s U.S. Science Support Program offers the Distinguished Lecturer Series to bring the exciting scientific results and discoveries of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program to academic research institutions, museums, and aquaria. Applications are due June 1, 2014.
2014 SACNAS National Conference: October 15-19, 2014, Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduates, graduate students and post-doctoral researchers are invited to present your research at the annual SACNAS Conference to be held at the LA Convention Center. As an inclusive and interdisciplinary national organization, the mission of SACNAS is to support students through scientific presentations and professional development to advanced degrees in STEM. Join this organization as a student for only $15/year and as a professional for $65/year. Posters can be submitted starting March 17, 2014 and close on April 14, 2014. Registration fees for a limited number of presenters are available through C-DEBI and travel support can be requested through SACNAS and C-DEBI matching travel funds. If you are interested in proposing a science session or have any other questions, please contact C-DEBI Diversity Director Cynthia Joseph.
MARUM: ECORD Summer School, “Subseafloor Biosphere: Current Advances and Future Challenges,” September 22 – October 2, Bremen, Germany
The deep subseafloor biosphere may be one of the largest ecosystems on our planet, driving subseafloor geochemical processes that affect ocean chemistry, the global carbon cycle, and the alteration of sediment and rocks. Its exploration means investigation of microbial communities at the limit of life and requires advancement of microbiological and biogeochemical methods. This summer school will address the latest developments in the investigation of the deep marine biosphere. This summer school will combine lab exercises on IODP-style shipboard methodologies (”virtual ship”) as well as interactive lectures by world-leading scientists in the fields of geomicrobiology and biogeochemistry. Participation will prepare you for future involvement in IODP and for research on the deep sub-seafloor biosphere. The summer school will take advantage of the unique and integrated facilities offered by the IODP Bremen Core Repository and the MARUM laboratories. Applications due May 9, 2014.
2014 International Symposium on Subsurface Microbiology (ISSM), October 5-10
Submit your abstracts to sessions such as “Astrobiology/Microbiology of Extreme Subsurface Environments” chaired by Tori Hoehler and Karsten Pedersen at the forthcoming International Symposium on Subsurface Microbiology meeting, which will be held at Asilomar this October. Abstracts due April 1. See submission instructions at http://www.2014issm.com/presentations.html.
DCO: Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) Summer School for students, postdocs and early-career researchers, 13-18 July 2014
Applications are due by Monday, 31 March 2014.
Wrigley Institute: High School Marine Science Lab at USC’s Wrigley Marine Science Center
Please see the flyer or download the application, due March 31.
Proposal Calls
Our Spring 2014 calls for deep biosphere proposals for our Research Small Grants, Education Small Grants, Postdoctoral Fellowships and Graduate Fellowships are now open. Help us further our mission to explore life beneath the seafloor and make transformative discoveries that advance science, benefit society, and inspire people of all ages and origins. C-DEBI’s research objectives include support of research activities related to the study of life in the deep marine subsurface, including analysis of samples and data from past cruises; participation in upcoming cruises; and field, laboratory and theoretical studies of the deep subsurface biosphere. Our overall education goal is to create distinctive, targeted, education programs at the K-12, undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels in order to train and foster the next generation of deep subseafloor biosphere researchers. The deadline for the Spring 2014 calls is April 1, 2014. C-DEBI values a diverse research and education environment and encourages proposals from applicants who would help to improve diversity in C-DEBI and STEM fields. Funding is only available to individuals sponsored in US institutions.
New Microbiological Samples Available from IODP Expeditions 337 and 338 For Post Expedition Research
Microbiologically preserved samples from Chikyu Expeditions 337, Deep Coalbed off Shimokita (which set the record for the deepest scientific ocean drilling), and 338, NantroSEIZE stage 2, are now available now for all scientists to request! The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) collects and preserves microbiology core samples at 3 Core Repositories around the world – the USIO Gulf Coast Core Repository in Texas, the ESO Bremen Core Repository in Germany, and the CDEX Kochi Core Center in Japan. As with all IODP expeditions, samples/data are publicly available after a one-year moratorium. Find out how the Kochi Core Center processes and stores their Deep BIOsphere Samples (DeBIOS) at http://www.kochi-core.jp/DeBIOS/. Make your sample request with IODP today (http://www.iodp.org/access-data-and-samples)!
IODP: Apply to Sail for Expeditions 355 and 356
The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) has begun accepting applications for two expeditions aboard the JOIDES Resolution: Expedition 355 (Arabian Sea Monsoon) and Expedition 356 (Indonesian Throughflow). U.S.-affiliated scientists interested in participating in these expeditions should apply to sail through the U.S. Science Support Program of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. The deadline to apply is May 1, 2014. For questions, please email expeditions@oceanleadership.org.
NSF: Critical Techniques and Technologies for Advancing Big Data Science & Engineering (BIGDATA) Program Solicitation
This year, the solicitation invites two types of proposals: “Foundations” (F): those developing or studying fundamental techniques, theories, methodologies, and technologies of broad applicability to Big Data problems; and “Innovative Applications” (IA): those developing techniques, methodologies and technologies of key importance to a Big Data problem directly impacting at least one specific application. All proposals must address critical challenges for big data management, big data analytics, or scientific discovery processes impacted by big data. These techniques, methodologies and technologies can be computational, statistical, or mathematical in nature, and proposals may focus on novel theoretical analysis or experimental evaluation of these techniques and methodologies. A high level of innovation is expected in all proposals. Proposals in all areas of science and engineering covered by participating directorates at NSF are welcome. Full Proposal Deadline: June 9, 2014.
Proposal submission deadline, 31 March, 2014.
National Academies Research Associateships for Graduate, Postdoctoral and Senior Researchers
There are four annual review cycles and the next closes May 1.
IODP: Call for Scientific Ocean Drilling Proposals
The proposal submission deadline is April 1, 2014. For more information and proposal guidance, please visit http://www.iodp.org/submitting-proposals or contact science@iodp.org.
IODP-USSSP: Rolling Proposals for Pre-Drilling Activities and Workshops
The U.S. Science Support Program (USSSP) accepts proposals on a rolling basis for pre-drilling activity and workshops related to the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP).
The phylum Chloroflexi is one of the most frequently detected phyla in the subseafloor of the Pacific Ocean margins. Dehalogenating Chloroflexi (Dehalococcoidetes) was originally discovered as the key microorganisms mediating reductive dehalogenation via their key enzymes reductive dehalogenases (Rdh) as sole mode of energy conservation in terrestrial environments. The frequent detection of Dehalococcoidetes-related 16S rRNA and rdh genes in the marine subsurface implies a role for dissimilatory dehalorespiration in this environment; however, the two genes have never been linked to each other. To provide fundamental insights into the metabolism, genomic population structure and evolution of marine subsurface Dehalococcoidetes sp., C-DEBI researcher A. Kaster et al. analyzed a non-contaminated deep-sea sediment core sample from the Peruvian Margin Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) site 1230, collected 7.3 m below the seafloor by a single cell genomic approach. We present for the first time single cell genomic data on three deep-sea Chloroflexi (Dsc) single cells from a marine subsurface environment. Two of the single cells were considered to be part of a local Dehalococcoidetes population and assembled together into a 1.38-Mb genome, which appears to be at least 85% complete. Despite a high degree of sequence-level similarity between the shared proteins in the Dsc and terrestrial Dehalococcoidetes, no evidence for catabolic reductive dehalogenation was found in Dsc. The genome content is however consistent with a strictly anaerobic organotrophic or lithotrophic lifestyle.
Alvin Science Verification Cruise Website
Beginning in 2011, Alvin, the nation’s only deep-sea research submersible, underwent an extensive upgrade to expand the sub’s capabilities. From March 13 to 26, scientists will test the new sub for the first time on a Science Verification Cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. The upgraded sub features a larger personnel sphere with additional viewports to increase visibility and improve comfort and usability for pilots and observers. It also includes new or rebuilt components that greatly enhance Alvin’s power, maneuverability, navigation, sample and data collection, cameras, and lights. During the cruise, scientists and pilots will take the sub through its paces in a series of dives under real field conditions. This website will report on these initial tests in a series of daily updates, photos and videos, and specialized reports from this historic research cruise.
IODP-USSSP: Scientific Ocean Drilling Workshop Report: Multidisciplinary Transect Drilling During Transits
A goal for the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is to develop more efficient ship tracks that minimize transits and maximize scientific output in relation to time and cost. Carefully conceived flow line transects that serve as transits have the potential to address multiple 2013-2023 IODP Science Plan challenges, because a number of high priority science objectives such as high resolution paleoclimate records or the aging of the ocean crust and the consequent impacts on basement physical properties, hydrogeology, and the deep biosphere, require transects of boreholes across ocean basins. Workshop participants, including co-organizer B. Reese and other C-DEBI researchers, convened to sketch out nascent multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary transect drilling proposals to exploit the potential transits of the JOIDES Resolution drill ship between or within large basins.
Call open until April 15 (or until a suitable candidate is found).
To apply for the position, please follow this link: http://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/35661 Applications will be reviewed starting January 15, 2014
Don’t forget to email me with any items you’d like to share in future newsletters! You are what makes our deep biosphere community!
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