Faculty
Jennifer Macalady
jlm80@psu.edu
814-865-6330
210 Deike Building
Professor
Department of Geosciences
Ecology Intercollege Degree Program
Research
I do fieldwork in environments that are model systems for understanding the distribution of microbial life on Earth and potentially on other planets. Some of my group studies sulfur cycling, both in the deep subsurface and in sunlit environments where the conditions are analagous to those on early Earth and possibly on other planets. We also study the microbiology of acid mine drainage and how microorganisms degrade hydrocarbons ranging from methane to coal. Our tools are emerging techniques in molecular biology, bioinformatics, ecology, and geochemistry.
About
I joined the Penn State Geosciences Department, Ecology Intercollege Degree Program, Biogeochemistry Dual Title Program, and Astrobiology Dual Title Program as a faculty member in 2004. Prior to Penn State, I was a postdoctoral researcher at U.C. Berkeley and U.W. Madison, and a Ph.D. student at U.C. Davis (2000). As an undergraduate student, I studied Geology and Russian language at Carleton College (1991). Although I grew up elsewhere, my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents lived near the anthracite coal mining town of Shamokin, PA.
