Sunday
4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Arrival and Check-in
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff / Welcome from the GRC Chair
7:40 pm - 9:30 pm
The Limits of Life
This session will describe some factors that limit microbial activity in various modern environments.
Discussion Leader: Tanja Bosak (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
7:40 pm - 7:50 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:50 pm - 8:25 pm
Barbara Sherwood-Lollar (University of Toronto, Canada)
"Habitability in Subsurface Fracture Fluid Systems"
8:25 pm - 8:40 pm
Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:15 pm
D'Arcy Meyer-Dombard (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
"Potential Sources of Carbon in Terrestrial, Energy Limited Environments"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Monday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:00 am
Group Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Geobiology of the Critical Zone
Soil microbiology, contribution of microbial processes to the emission of gases in terrestrial environments and microbial weathering.
Discussion Leader: Louis Derry (Cornell University, USA)
9:00 am - 9:10 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:10 am - 9:50 am
Laura Meredith (University of Arizona, USA)
"Using Trace Gases to Track Interactions Between Life and the Environment in Modern Soils and Evolving Landscapes"
9:50 am - 10:10 am
Discussion
10:10 am - 10:40 am
Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:20 am
Caroline Masiello (Rice University, USA)
"Spies and Bloggers: New Synthetic Biology Tools for Earth System Science"
11:20 am - 11:35 am
Discussion
11:35 am - 12:15 pm
Jennifer Druhan (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA)
"Toward Rate Dependent Fractionation in Isotope Enabled Reactive Transport Models for Biogeochemical Systems"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Power Hour
The GRC Power Hour is an optional informal gathering open to all meeting participants. It is designed to help address the challenges women face in science and support the professional growth of women in our communities by providing an open forum for discussion and mentoring.
Organizer: Alexandra Turchyn (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Rock-Hosted Life
Microbial metabolisms, activity and processes on the seafloor and in the subsurface.
Discussion Leader: Florence Schubotz (MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:40 pm - 8:20 pm
Julie Huber (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA)
"Life Beneath the Seafloor"
8:20 pm - 8:35 pm
Discussion
8:35 pm - 9:15 pm
Jan Amend (University of Southern California, USA)
"Life in the Continental Deep Subsurface: A Case Study at SURF, South Dakota"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Tuesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Metals and Metaloenzymes in Present and Past Environments
Microbial metal utilization and limitations due to the availability of metals in modern and past environments.
Discussion Leader: Kurt Konhauser (University of Alberta, Canada)
9:00 am - 9:10 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:10 am - 9:50 am
Hans Carlson (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA)
"Biochemical Requirements for Enzymatic Perchlorate Reduction: What Makes a Perchlorate Reductase a Perchlorate Reductase"
9:50 am - 10:10 am
Discussion
10:10 am - 10:40 am
Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:20 am
Emily Ciscato (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
"Biogeochemical Travels Through Time - A Metal Stable Isotope Perspective"
11:20 am - 11:35 am
Discussion
11:35 am - 12:15 pm
Caroline Slomp (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
"Microbial Pathways and the Biogeochemical Impact of Iron Mineral Dissolution in Coastal Sediments"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Mineral-Microbe Interactions
Microbially-mediated precipitation of minerals.
Discussion Leader: Nicholas Tosca (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:40 pm - 8:20 pm
Karim Benzerara (Université Pierre et Marie Curie / CNRS, France)
"Microbial Intracellular Ca-Carbonate Biomineralization: An Overlooked Yet Widespread Process"
8:20 pm - 8:35 pm
Discussion
8:35 pm - 9:15 pm
Jennifer Roberts (University of Kansas, USA)
"Mechanistic Insights into Mediation of Carbonate Mineral Formation by Microbial Surfaces"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Wednesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
The Coupled Cycles of Sulfur, Carbon and Iron
The coupled biogeochemical cycling of sulfur, methane and iron in sediments and anoxic waters.
Discussion Leader: Orit Sivan (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
9:00 am - 9:10 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:10 am - 9:50 am
Thorsten Dittmar (Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany)
"The Geobiology of Marine Dissolved Organic Matter"
9:50 am - 10:10 am
Discussion
10:10 am - 10:40 am
Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:20 am
Victoria Orphan (California Institute of Technology, USA)
"Is Sulfate Required for Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane in the Ocean?"
11:20 am - 11:35 am
Discussion
11:35 am - 12:15 pm
Shuhei Ono (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
"Isotope Signals of Microbial Sulfur and Methane Cycles"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Records of Biological Processes in Sediments
Geochemical and mineralogical manifestations of microbial activity in sediments throughout Earth history.
Discussion Leader: Boswell Wing (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:40 pm - 8:20 pm
David Fike (Washington University in St. Louis, USA)
"Depositional Controls on Sulfur Isotope Records"
8:20 pm - 8:35 pm
Discussion
8:35 pm - 9:15 pm
Alan Rooney (Yale University, USA)
"Constructing the Temporal Framework of Neoproterozoic Evolutionary Innovations: Insights from Geochronology and Paleoweathering Proxies"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Thursday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:00 am
Business Meeting
Nominations for the Next Vice Chair; Fill in Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss Future Site and Scheduling Preferences; Election of the Next Vice Chair
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Key Biological Transitions in Earth History
New constraints on the nature and timing of evolutionary innovations from the sedimentary record.
Discussion Leader: Clara Blattler (Princeton University, USA)
9:00 am - 9:10 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:10 am - 9:50 am
Christopher Reinhard (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
"Nutrients, Ecosystems, and the Chemical Evolution of Earth's Atmosphere"
9:50 am - 10:10 am
Discussion
10:10 am - 10:40 am
Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:20 am
Catherine Rose (University of St Andrews, United Kingdom)
"Investigating the Role of Sedimentology on Geochemical Proxies Through Earth History"
11:20 am - 11:35 am
Discussion
11:35 am - 12:15 pm
Emmy Smith (Johns Hopkins University, USA)
"Fossils and Strange Abiotic Structures at the Ediacaran-Cambrian Boundary in the Southwest USA"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
The Search for Signs of Life
Recognition of microbial biosignatures in the fossil record from the early Earth and other planets.
Discussion Leader: Laurie Barge (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:40 pm - 8:20 pm
Jochen Brocks (Australian National University, Australia)
"Lost World of Complex Life: Molecular Traces of Our Primordial Ancestors"
8:20 pm - 8:35 pm
Discussion
8:35 pm - 9:15 pm
Andrew Czaja (University of Cincinnati, USA)
"Morphological, Organic Geochemical, and Trace Element Biosignatures for Life on the Ancient Earth (and Mars?)"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Friday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am
Departure