Frederick (Rick) Colwell is a microbial ecologist specializing in subsurface microbiology and

geomicrobiology Geomicrobiology is the scientific field at the intersection of geology and microbiology and is a major subfield of geobiology. It concerns the role of microbes on geological and geochemical processes and effects of minerals and metals to microbia ...

. He is a professor of ocean ecology and

biogeochemistry Biogeochemistry is the Branches of science, scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemistry, chemical, physics, physical, geology, geological, and biology, biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natu ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, and an adjunct and affiliate faculty member at

Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations ...

Career

Colwell earned his BA in Biology from Whitman College in 1977, his MS in microbiology at

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

in 1982, and his PhD in microbiology at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in 1986. He completed his postdoctoral research at

Idaho National Laboratory Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. Historically, the lab has been involved with nuclear research, although the labora ...

in 1988, when he became a scientist there. Colwell joined the faculty of the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at

in June 2006. He has served as president of the International Society for Subsurface Microbiology since 2008. He is a reviewer for ''

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ''Applied and Environmental Microbiology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Society for Microbiology. It was established in 1953 as ''Applied Microbiology'' and obtained its current name in 1975. Articles o ...

''and a member of the editorial board of the journal ''

Biodegradation Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegrada ...

''. Colwell is a member of the

Deep Carbon Observatory The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) is a global research program designed to transform understanding of carbon's role in Earth. DCO is a community of scientists, including biologists, physicists, geoscientists and chemists, whose work crosses severa ...

’s Deep Life Scientific Steering Committee.

Research

In his research, Colwell uses molecular methods to investigate the rates of microbial activities. He has projects focused on

methane hydrate Methane clathrate (CH4·5.75H2O) or (4CH4·23H2O), also called methane hydrate, hydromethane, methane ice, fire ice, natural gas hydrate, or gas hydrate, is a solid clathrate compound (more specifically, a clathrate hydrate) in which a large am ...

s and methane seeps in marine sediments and microbes that precipitate the mineral calcite in aquifers and other subsurface environments. Colwell and marine geologist Martin Fisk, are studying microbial communities within deep volcanic rocks at the Wallula pilot well in eastern Washington state. Carbon dioxide will be injected into the well to test

carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. It plays a crucial role in Climate change mitigation, limiting climate change by reducing the amount of Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, carbon dioxide in the atmosphe ...

. Colwell will examine how the microbial communities respond to the carbon dioxide injections and whether will be useful for monitoring and measuring the presence of carbon dioxide. Colwell was part of the North pond exploration in the Atlantic Ocean with

Katrina Edwards Katrina Jane Edwards (15 March 1968 - 26 October 2014) was a pioneering geomicrobiologist known for her studies of organisms living below the ocean floor, specifically exploring the interactions between the microbes and their geological surroundin ...

to examine the microbes living in the rocks and sediments beneath the seafloor.

References

External links

Geomicrobiology: Low life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colwell, Frederick Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Oregon State University faculty Virginia Tech alumni American microbiologists American ecologists Northern Arizona University alumni