Victoria J. Orphan is a

geobiologist Geobiology is a field of scientific research that explores the interactions between the physical Earth and the biosphere. It is a relatively young field, and its borders are fluid. There is considerable overlap with the fields of ecology, evoluti ...

at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

who studies the interactions between

marine microorganism Marine microorganisms are defined by their habitat as microorganisms living in a marine habitat, marine environment, that is, in the saline water, saltwater of a sea or ocean or the brackish water of a coastal estuary. A microorganism (or mic ...

s and their environment. As of 2020, she is the Chair for the Center of Environmental Microbial Interactions.

Early life and education

Victoria Orphan received her B.A. in Aquatic Biology (1994) and Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology (2001) from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

. She served as a National Research Council fellow at the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Ames Research Center The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laborat ...

(2002–2004) before joining the Geobiology faculty at California Institute of Technology.

Career

Orphan is the James Irvine Professor of Environmental Science and Geobiology at the

. She has also been an adjunct scientist at

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is a private, non-profit oceanographic research center in Moss Landing, California. MBARI was founded in 1987 by David Packard, and is primarily funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foun ...

(MBARI) since 2009 and Senior Scientist of the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations, a Science and Technology Center funded by the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

and headquartered at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. As of 2020, she is the Alan V.C. Davis and Lenabelle Davis Leadership Chair for the Center of Environmental Microbial Interactions. In 2023 she was named LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year by

Out to Innovate Out to Innovate, previously known as the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP), is a professional society for professionals in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering. Each year, Out to I ...

, a global organization of LGBTQ+ students and professionals in STEM. She is the director of Caltech's

Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory The William G. Kerckhoffbr>Marine Laboratory'' is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). It is located 101 Dahlia Street, in the Corona del Mar district of Newport Beach, in Orange County, California. History ...

as well as the Center for Environmental Microbial Interactions (CEMI).

Research

Orphan's research integrates molecular, microscopy, and geochemical techniques to improve understanding of various processes, including those that serve as the primary sink for the greenhouse gas methane in the ocean. She focuses on microbially-mediated anaerobic oxidation of

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

(AOM) in

deep sea The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low tempe ...

sediment. Specifically, she looks at the relationships between two groups of marine microbes:

archaea Archaea ( ) is a Domain (biology), domain of organisms. Traditionally, Archaea only included its Prokaryote, prokaryotic members, but this has since been found to be paraphyletic, as eukaryotes are known to have evolved from archaea. Even thou ...

and

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

. Orphan uses tools such as nanoSIMS to visualize these organisms at the microscale and track how and when they exchange energy. Through her research, Orphan has helped develop novel stable

isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...

applications that provide insight into the relationship between microbes and large-scale geochemical processes. Orphan appeared in the 2018 Netflix documentary ''The Most Unknown''' on scientific research directed by

Ian Cheney Ian Cheney is an American documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and producer. Early life and education Cheney grew up in Massachusetts and Maine, attended The Mountain School, a semester school for high school juniors, and graduated from Mil ...

Personal life

Orphan is in a relationship with fellow scientist Shana K. Goffredi, who teaches biology at

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

and also studies deep-sea ecosystems.

Honors and awards

* 2001, National Research Council Fellowship,

*2005,

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is an American foundation established by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore and his wife Betty I. Moore in September 2000 to support scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements ...

Young Investigator Award * 2010, DOE Early Career Research Award * 2013,

Investigator Award * 2014, Dr. Fred Shair Award for Programming Diversity * 2016,

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

* 2018, NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Award * 2020, species (''Peinaleopolynoe orphanae'') named after her *2020, American Academy of Arts and Science member *2021, elected Fellow of the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

Selected Publications

Orphan, V., Hinrichs, K.-U., Ussler, W., Paull, C.K., Taylor, L., Sylva, S.P., Hayes, J.M. and DeLong, E., 2001. Comparative analysis of methane-oxidizing archaea and sulfatereducing bacteria in anoxic marine sediments. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 67(4): 1922-1934. Orphan, V.J., House, C.H., Hinrichs, K.-U., McKeegan, K.D. and DeLong, E.F., 2001. Methane-consuming archaea revealed by directly coupled isotopic and phylogenetic analysis. Science, 293(5529): 484-487. Orphan, V.J., House, C.H., Hinrichs, K.-U., McKeegan, K.D. and DeLong, E.F., 2002. Multiple archaeal groups mediate methane oxidation in anoxic cold seep sediments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(11): 7663-7668. Orphan, V., Goffredi, S., Delong, E. and Boles, J., 2003. Geochemical influence on diversity and microbial processes in high temperature oil reservoirs. Geomicrobiology Journal, 20(4): 295-311. Orphan, V., Ussler III, W., Naehr, T., House, C., Hinrichs, K.-U. and Paull, C., 2004. Geological, geochemical, and microbiological heterogeneity of the seafloor around methane vents in the Eel River Basin, offshore California. Chemical Geology, 205(3): 265- 289. Orphan, V., Jahnke, L., Embaye, T., Turk, K., Pernthaler, A., Summons, R. and Des Marais, D., 2008. Characterization and spatial distribution of methanogens and methanogenic biosignatures in hypersaline microbial mats of Baja California. Geobiology, 6(4): 376-393. Orphan, V. and House, C., 2009. Geobiological investigations using secondary ion mass spectrometry: microanalysis of extant and paleo-microbial processes. Geobiology, 7(3): 360-372. Orphan, V.J., 2011. Getting cozy: hidden microbial interactions in nature. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 3(1): 16-18. Orphan, V.J. and Hoehler, T.M., 2011. Microbiology: Hydrogen for dinner. Nature, 476(7359): 154-155. Cavicchioli, R., Ripple, W. J., Timmis, K. N., Azam, F., Bakken, L. R., Baylis, M., ... V. Orphan… & Crowther, T. W. (2019). Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 17: 569-586. Leu, A.O., Cai, C., McIlroy, S.J., Southam, G., Orphan, V.J., Yuan, Z., Hu, S. and Tyson, G.W., 2020. Anaerobic methane oxidation coupled to manganese reduction by members of the Methanoperedenaceae. The ISME journal, 14(4), pp.1030-1041.

References

External links

Orphan Lab (California Institute of Technology) pageMacArthur Foundation pageGordon and Betty Moore Foundation page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orphan, Victoria Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Geobiologists California Institute of Technology faculty American women scientists MacArthur Fellows American LGBTQ scientists University of California, Santa Barbara alumni American women academics 21st-century American women Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers